Landlords evicting tenants before law to prevent practice comes into force in England | Housing
A growing number of landlords are evicting tenants at the last minute before the law changes next month to ban the practice, charities have said.
Tenants’ union Acorn told the Guardian that no-fault evictions made up a fifth of the reports they received from members in October, rising to almost a third by January.
The Tenants’ Rights Bill, which was under development last year and will come into force on May 1, 2026, will repeal section 21 of the current Housing Code, which allows a landlord to evict without providing a reason to the court.
A spokesperson for Acorn said: “This is no coincidence. Landlords are clearly rushing to force last-minute evictions before the ban comes into force.” he said.
Concerns have also been voiced by tenant organizations across the UK, particularly in dense urban areas where competition between tenants is high.
Kim Mansell, 36, has lived at Lady Florence Courtyard in Lewisham for five years and now has a possession order checking her letterbox every day, telling her to leave. The landlord who evicted him is, ironically, a London homelessness charity called the 999 Club.
“This is absolutely evil.” he said. “I told them how much I loved living here. How much I loved that my rent went to charity and that I didn’t have a family and therefore had nowhere else to turn.”
As the tenants’ rights bill passed through parliament at the start of last year, the charity increased Mansell’s rent by 11%. He tried to negotiate without getting an answer. He was later given a no-fault eviction notice in June.
Panicked, the woman contacted the 999 Club to discuss the change, but they told her a meeting “would not be productive or appropriate”. In the months since, the charity hasn’t backed down, and while Mansell was contemplating the reality of homelessness himself, they advertised his flat for 36% more than he paid for it.
Other tenants confirmed that the charity had always negotiated rent in the past and could not remember a time when they evicted to get a rent increase.
The charity to which this information was submitted said: “Any enforcement action will only be taken following sound legal advice and where there are significant, persistent issues.”
“While we do not comment on individual tenancies, we have never evicted anyone as a means of increasing rents,” he said.
Hugh Wilkinson, head of housing at Central England Law Centre, said he had received a large number of section 21 cases. The lawyer, whose clients focus on Coventry and Birmingham, said he had seen long-term tenants shocked by unexpected breaks in their long-term relationships with their landlords.
“It can be quite distressing for people,” he said. “To think that they were there for a long time and the length of time made no difference. The court will not consider the fairness of that.”
Isaac Rose, 33, a Greater Manchester Tenants’ Union organizer, was also given a section 21 eviction three weeks ago. This follows disagreement around a proposed 29% rent increase.
The landlord attempted to file a chapter 13 notice for a rent increase and when that failed due to improper filing, they used a chapter 21 eviction.
“It’s pretty clear they’re doing this because of the change in the law,” Rose said. “Once Section 21 is repealed, it will be much harder and slower to get us out of here.”
Meera Chindooroy, deputy director of campaigns at the National Association of Residential Landlords, said: “Landlords will look at their existing tenants and consider whether these are tenancies they would be happy to continue beyond May or whether they are concerned about any risks (for example, problems with rent arrears or antisocial behaviour).”
Unions, charities and other third sector organizations across the UK have said change cannot come soon enough. Many campaigned for the legislation to be passed and were consulted as it was written.
Housing charity Shelter said: “It is particularly outrageous that some landlords are exploiting this narrow window of time to ensure no-fault evictions. This shows how vital these new changes are for tenants.”
Although the law has changed, trials initiated before May 1, 2026 will be allowed to continue as before.
