Eviction moratorium ‘sham’ as eviction cases soar in Scotland

Scotland’s moratorium on evictions has been branded as a ‘sham’ by critics after revelations that the number of tenants facing eviction is more than double the usual number.

This week, the Scottish Government announced that a rent cap and a ban on evictions would remain until September.

However, the number of eviction cases being listed with the First-Tier Tribunal (FTT) has rocketed.

The latest figures show that 224 cases have been lodged from both private and social landlords in Scotland using loopholes in the law brought in last September.

One of those cases has been made by The Church of Scotland General Trustees.

Before the eviction ban was announced, there were 102 cases listed with the FTT.

‘This situation was entirely predictable’

David Alexander, the chief executive of DJ Alexander, said: “Unfortunately this situation was entirely predictable but is terrible news for thousands of tenants who have been let down by a policy which has never been shown to work anywhere and is always detrimental to the renters.

“No country in the world has been able to make a rent freeze and eviction ban work because such policies always result in a reduction of the available number of properties resulting in greater demand and higher rents.

“Anecdotally the rent freeze coupled with an eviction ban may also have led some tenants to believe that they no longer needed to pay rent as they could not lose their home.

“This is not the case as so many hundreds of people are finding out.”

‘Provide a landlord with an opportunity to evict’

Among the loopholes is to provide a landlord with an opportunity to evict if they want to live in or sell the property because of financial hardship.

When Nicola Sturgeon unveiled the plans for a rent freeze and moratorium on evictions, she said the move would ‘give people security about the roof over their heads’.

Now there are worries that landlords can apply for and then be granted a valid eviction notice while the ban is in place and then enforce the notice when the ban ends in September.

The news follows a revelation that housing regulators are predicting that rent arrears for 550,000 social homes will hit £169.6m this year.

Moratorium on evictions is a ‘sham’

The Scottish Tenants’ Organisation says the moratorium on evictions is a ‘sham’ and that people would be shocked to see how many tenants now face eviction.

The organisation also says that the Scottish Government is being ‘economical with the truth’.

In a statement, the organisation told one newspaper: “We face a wave of homelessness among tenants in Scotland which could be avoided if tenants and their families were truly protected from eviction by the Scottish Government instead of the fiction of the eviction ban.”

The Scottish government said that a notice to leave can still be served while its emergency measures are in place and the enforcement will be paused except for those cases in ‘certain circumstances’.

‘Little hope of rehousing in the future’

Mr Alexander said: “We can see that the announcement in September of an eviction ban and rent cap may have pleased tenants in the short term but has resulted in real pain for many who are now facing the prospect of eviction with little hope of rehousing in the future.

“Such policies don’t work, have never worked, and only exacerbate the problems in the housing market.”

He added: “We need Governments across the UK to work with the building industry, the private rented sector, and social housing providers to ensure we have homes which are affordable, acceptable and are developed in areas where people want to live and work.

“Any other ‘solutions’ are simply window dressing.”

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