In April 2019, the Government announced proposed changes to the tenant eviction process in England. The consultation, which ends on 12th October 2019, is asking for views on how to implement proposals to repeal section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 as well as strengthen the possession procedure under section 8 of the 1988 Act.
Several agencies have criticised the legislative move to abolish section 21 notices. Tenant eviction specialists, Landlord Action, raised concerns that the number of section 8 hearings could double in the future, as landlords - who would previously use section 21 - will now be forced to use section 8. In addition, more tenants could receive a County Court Judgement (CCJ), which will not only impact their future credit rating but make it harder to pass tenant referencing.
According to Paul Shamplina, founder of Landlord Action, thousands of tenants will have rent arrears judgements against them if landlords are to use section 8:
“Local councils will see when a tenant has a rent arrears possession order made against them so will consider that that tenant has made themselves homeless. Therefore, the council will not be obliged to re-house them as they do at present under section 21 accelerated procedure.
“If these tenants cannot get accommodation in the private rented sector and cannot be re-housed by the council, what will happen to them?”
What are the current laws?
A section 21 notice allows a landlord to evict a tenant without giving a reason. It can be used to serve notice, either after a fixed term tenancy has ended, or during a periodic tenancy where there is no fixed end date. Under current rules, tenants must be given at least eight week’s notice.
The notice can be used to allow the landlord to sell the property or even live in it themselves. Critics of the law have suggested that having the ability to evict a tenant without good reason - on a no-fault basis - is open to abuse and can create a fear of eviction, discouraging tenants from complaining about problems with the condition of the property.
What is being proposed?
In future, landlords would have to provide a good and evidenced reason to evict a tenant using the lengthier section 8 process. Under this procedure, the landlord needs to go to court to regain possession where a tenant is in breach of their tenancy agreement.
To assist in overcoming what is seen as the slow and inefficient section 8 process, the Government has promised to improve matters so that owners can regain properties from tenants expeditiously in cases where the tenant has failed to pay rent or damaged the property.
According to the consultation, the removal of section 21 of the 1988 Act would mean that all future tenancies will be an assured tenancy, either fixed-term or an assured periodic tenancy.
It should be noted there is no proposed changes to the current one month notice a tenant must provide to bring their tenancy to an end.
When will the changes come into force?
After the consultation period, the Government must decide if they want to take forward the proposed legislation. It has been suggested that, if passed, there would be a six-month transition period to give landlords time to prepare for the changes.
Any new legislation that does come into force following the consultation process will not be retrospective. This means landlords will still be able to use a section 21 notice to end an existing assured short-term tenancy that continues beyond the date when the legislation comes into effect. The new legislative regime will only apply to tenancies granted after its implementation.
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