The Alliance position on Section 21

The landlords Alliance as part of the Fair Possession Coalition met Lord Lytton in London some time back. We have carefully examined proposals to abolish Section 21 and have listened carefully to our members.

We have concluded that the abolition of s21 is nothing more than a sop to organisations such as Shelter. Before we continue it must be remembered what kind of organisation this ‘charity’ is. It is a £60 million set up which houses nobody and demonises landlords as well as calling for the abolition of s21. To suggest that landlords cannot decide who to accept and are restricted from recovering their properties is not simply an attack on landlords, it undermines all property owners rights. To have an organisation which calls itself a charity attempting to undermine property owners rights is simply not on.

The Judicial system is a mess and long delays do not help landlords or tenants. ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’. The position where councils, Shelter etc tell tenants to ignore the court and await bailiffs is wrong. The court should not be defied. There is no justice where a landlord defaults on his mortgage, because rent is not being payed, or where neighbours lives are made hell because of tenant’s anti-social behaviour.

There is a housing shortgage which must be addressed by more building.

The language of hate constantly referring to ‘criminal landlords’ is completely unacceptable.

The eminent London solicitor Ian Narbeth has in a lengthy article pointed out how inherently flawed the proposed deposit passporting scheme is. It is therefore absolutely unacceptable that property owners rights should be undermined.

The Landlords Alliance therefore is completely opposed to any abolition or dilution of Section 21 at this point.

At some stage in the future after essential reforms have been implemented following careful consideration, we would be prepared to revisit the argument. However, it is fair to say that we have a very flawed system which must be rectified as a matter of urgency. Having those in society who contribute no taxes, default on rent and engage in asb, driving the agenda is totally wrong

We urge landlords to join the Alliance now and we urge all our colleagues in the Fair Possession Coalition to speak with one voice. It simply is not tenable to even contemplate the abolition of S21 at this point.

We will end up with a swedish or Seventies style rental market with shortages and no mobility. This will benefit nobody.

There is no case at this point in time for the undermining of the PRS by abolishing section 21.

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