Tenant evictions: It’s time for an uncomfortable conversation

Dear tenants everywhere, I hope all is well and for the majority of you who don’t know about the Renters (Reform) Bill, that life continues to be sweet. For the few renters who are aware of the upcoming law, you need to know about a growing misunderstanding among politicians, the media and homelessness campaigners about tenant evictions that’s causing more harm than good.

You see, you might be under the impression that it will become more difficult to evict you because Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions will be abolished, but like the crazy notion many of you enjoyed in lockdown who thought a ‘rent freeze’ was a ‘we don’t have to pay rent’, there’s a shock coming your way.

Because I’m predicting that not only will evictions continue, but they will increase. Crazy, eh? Let me explain.

We have seen two illustrations of the basic misunderstanding of what evictions are this week: idiot protestors outside Michael Gove’s home trying to hand him an eviction notice (it’s a grace-and-favour home so he’ll likely be marched out of it later this year, anyway).

And we have my old friends at Shelter claiming that one million tenants have been evicted for no fault since the Renters (Reform) Bill was first mooted in 2019.

Its chief executive, Polly Neate, was on Sky News claiming that tenants being served a Section 21 notice are ‘being tipped into homelessness’.

Misconceptions about tenant evictions in the UK

It is time, I think, to unravel the misconceptions about tenant evictions in the UK – and renters and campaigners aren’t going to like it.

Firstly, the notion that Section 21, or ‘no fault’ evictions, are for no fault is a deliberate misconception. As landlords, we know this isn’t true. They should be called ‘no reason given’.

Tenants are not asked to leave a property without good reason – it doesn’t make sense for a landlord to evict a tenant if there are no issues, or if they just want to sell.

That’s because evictions cost landlords money in lost rent, property maintenance and legal fees associated with re-letting.

A Section 21 notice often saves having to get into tit-for-tat arguments with tenants who may not realise the problems they cause to a property. (Whoa, hold on Landlord Crusader – don’t dare imply that some tenants deserve to be evicted….).

Fed into the anti-landlord narrative

The term ‘no-fault’ eviction has unfortunately fed into the anti-landlord narrative that has been ramped up by certain campaign groups.

It’s now a buzzword for the media – who really should know better.

Not being impartial in the coverage of Section 21 means there’s a skewed perception of landlords and the eviction process.

Shelter’s claim that nearly one million tenants have been evicted under the Section 21 process doesn’t hold up for me.

The poll they used asked for opinions and experiences.

It didn’t, noticeably, ask landlords for their opinions about evictions in the UK.

But if everyone took a step back and understood there are around 4.6 million private tenants in the UK and 90+% haven’t been evicted for any reason, means what?

It means we are focusing on a tiny issue and using this to blame the ills of renting on ALL landlords.

Landlords want to keep tenants

It also means that landlords want to keep tenants – and the real issue for evictions might be tenants themselves not paying rent, causing anti-social behaviour or damaging their rented property.

And the other big issue is that there is a massive problem with the fearmongering from organisations like Shelter.

I’ve said this before but while we are talking about a tenant’s home, we are really talking about a landlord’s property.

And the moves afoot will see the removal of a landlord’s rights over his/her own property – and the tenant’s rights surpassing them.

How is it fair that a tenant can make demands and essentially become a tenant for life when it is the landlord who has worked hard and saved up to invest?

It doesn’t make sense.

It’s time to change the narrative and shed light on the realities of tenant evictions in the UK.

So, when will we see the likes of Shelter with its millions of pounds of turnover every year (and millions sitting in the bank) start renting out property?

That’s probably too much like hard work when corporate donors are lining up and media poodles get their sound bites.

Because renting out property is a stressful occupation.

We have sacrificed and worked towards creating wealth for our retirement to be told that this is a disgraceful thing to do.

We didn’t create the housing crisis, we didn’t push interest rates up, we didn’t create tenant demand with uncontrolled immigration, and it wasn’t us that didn’t build enough homes.

But we did create a huge part of the housing sector offering quality homes to those who can’t afford to buy or get a council house.

It’s a thankless task being a landlord

I appreciate you won’t always know that it’s a thankless task being a landlord, but I didn’t realise until this week how poorly we are portrayed. Everyone it appears, literally, hates us.

And as the Renters (Reform) Bill makes its glacial progress to becoming law, I’m sure we will be in for a rocky ride.

Still no organisation stands up for us. No one asks for our thoughts on ever more regulations.

We really are the whipping boys and girls of the housing sector. We don’t deserve property rights or a voice in the media.

We only deserve bad-mouthing and stiffer laws.

If private landlords really are that bad, why doesn’t the government announce it will nationalise the sector and buy us out?

Surely, that’s a win-win?

Or would a handy media issue to distract from the real housing problems in this country be eradicated, leaving the stone-cold truth for everyone to see?

Landlords aren’t the bad guys, and neither are most of the tenants.

It’s the mealy-mouthed politicians, landlord-hating campaign groups and spineless media mouthpieces who have whipped up a fake news controversy.

And at the end of it, when the Bill becomes law, tenants everywhere will find that landlords are selling up to avoid losing control of their property – because no one understands the difference between ‘no-fault’ and ‘no reason given’.

Tenants, you have my utmost sympathy because of this campaign your rents will increase, and choice will fall as landlords leave and no government – especially a Labour one – will have what it takes to build the homes we need.

Until next time,

The Landlord Crusader

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