Labour’s housing hypocrisy: councils serve almost 200 families with no-fault eviction notices | Housing

L.An investigation by the Guardian has found that local councils have used a legal loophole to issue no-fault eviction notices to nearly 200 families since the party was elected on a promise to ban the practice.

Reversing these orders, known as Section 21 evictions, was one of Keir Starmer’s main promises before last July’s general election, but more than a year later these commitments remain legal.

Local governments cannot normally carry out evictions without fault. These are allowed if tenants have an assured short-term tenancy, a type of rental agreement offered by private landlords.

However, some municipalities have managed to prevent this situation through arm’s length companies they established to manage their housing stocks.

Since Labor came to power, companies owned by its five councils have initiated no-fault eviction proceedings against 191 households. Some tenants were taken to court, and many were evicted from their homes by bailiffs.

The Guardian announced last week that the municipality of Lambeth in south London was carrying out this application through Homes for Lambeth, a company it founded in 2017 and is in the process of being dissolved.

The local government has issued 63 no-fault eviction notices since last July. Five households were granted possession orders through the courts and two were removed by bailiffs. Lambeth council said it faced “incredibly difficult choices” but decided to use the properties to house those who were already homeless.

Jules Zakolska, 27, said she and other tenants were “traumatized” by the thought that they too might be placed in temporary accommodation, and some were left suicidal.

Documents show Lambeth council is delaying full implementation of the plan because it is a “highly controversial” decision that needs to be taken “in the pre-election period”.

It has now been revealed that four more Labour-run councils – Reading, Blackpool, Nottingham and Enfield – have issued section 21 notices to tenants renting affordable housing.

Reading council in Berkshire has announced plans to close housing company Homes for Reading, two weeks after the general election. Since then, 48 households have been issued with no-fault eviction notices, and 20 of them have abandoned their properties.

Some vacated homes are being used as temporary accommodation for homeless people when they should be rented to key workers. Some families evacuated by Homes for Reading have now been forced into temporary accommodation elsewhere in the town.

This includes Charlene Flygring, 38, who received a no-fault eviction notice in May. She and her four-year-old son, Rion-Aziah, were placed in the bedroom by the local authority. They share a bed and do not have access to a working washing machine.

“Everything seems so hopeless right now,” he said. “This is a terrible place. You either have to accept the offer of temporary accommodation or you are homeless. We hate coming back here. If my beloved flat was also used as temporary accommodation, I could stay there and be near my son’s school.”

A Reading council spokesman said the decision to close Homes for Reading was taken as a “last resort” after the company’s “viability” was affected by changes to the local authority’s lending rules and economic factors.

He said: “HfR properties were purchased by the council’s housing revenue account; legislation requires vacant possession at the point where the properties were acquired.

“More than half of the properties have now been vacated and are being allocated for new use as essential housing for local key workers in Reading. A minority are being used for temporary housing for priority need residents in the short term to meet a local shortage. These properties will then return to key worker use.”

He added that the council was working with tenants to find alternative accommodation, with the support of a dedicated homelessness prevention officer.

Blackpool council in Lancashire manages more than 700 rental properties through Blackpool Housing Company. Labor has issued 73 excellence declarations since coming to power. At the same time, 15 households were ordered to acquire property and three households were evicted by bailiffs.

The Guardian understands the council often uses these notices as a means of tackling drug use and antisocial behaviour. However, if tenants violate their lease, landlords are required to issue another type of eviction notice that allows them to challenge the decision in court.

Blackpool Housing Corporation said no-fault evictions were considered a “last resort”. A spokesman added: “In most cases our notices do not result in evictions because the process has resulted in successful tenancy continuation with support for the tenant. In the very few cases where evictions have occurred there has been a lack of comprehensive support and involvement by the tenant and no resolution has been found. In these cases people are still eligible for support from the council to find somewhere else to live.”

Nottingham city council established an independent housing management company called Nottingham City Homes in 2004. In 2017, Nottingham City Homes established a subsidiary offering assured short-term tenancies. Both companies were ultimately owned by the local authority.

In 2022, the council announced plans to dissolve both organizations after it was revealed that nearly £50 million of funding for housing services had been misspent. As a result, approximately 100 families who had secured short-term rentals lost their homes. Although the council began eviction proceedings before the election, Labor continued to pursue tenants after entering government.

Since then, he has issued two no-fault eviction notices and requested two possession orders from the courts. A property was seized by bailiffs. A council spokesman said: “Enforcement action was only necessary after an extended period of time had been secured to give the tenant more time to move.”

It added that it had a “strong emphasis” on supporting tenants throughout the process and “provided flexibility around notice periods wherever possible” and that it had no plans to carry out further no-fault evictions.

Enfield council in north London owns a housing organization called My Housing Gateway. As well as renting properties in its own housing stock, it also manages rents on behalf of private landlords. It was stated that five households have been given error-free eviction notices since last July. They were all later removed by bailiffs.

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions are unacceptable. That’s why we’re banning them through our landmark tenants’ rights bill, which will soon become law.”