UNISON has welcomed a new law which aims to protect renters in England against retaliatory evictions by preventing landlords from evicting tenants who have complained about the poor condition of their homes.
The law which was passed earlier this month as part of the Deregulation Bill – and will come into effect later in the year – will make any eviction invalid where the tenant has made a complaint about housing conditions that the landlord did not respond to adequately.
This means that landlords can no longer issue a ‘Section 21’ notice to seek possession to evict a tenant simply because they complained about the condition of their home.
The new law comes after a campaign coalition group led by the charity Shelter called for greater protection for tenants against ‘revenge’ evictions. Figures from Shelter had shown that 200,000 tenants were evicted or faced possession proceedings every year – and 1 in 12 renters have avoided asking their landlord to repair or improve housing conditions because they were scared of eviction.
Shelter’s chief executive Campbell Robb said: “Hundreds of thousands of people will no longer face the appalling choice between living in a home that puts them or their family in danger, or risking eviction if they complain.”
UNISON’s assistant policy officer Sylvia Jones said:
“This is a huge victory for renters in England who have fewer rights and protection and could be evicted out of their rental homes for no reason. The new law gives renters who have legitimate concerns about the poor condition of the homes they rent the confidence to complain without fear of eviction in retaliation, and it is a huge step in protecting tenants.
“However, more needs to be done to improve the rental market by introducing rent controls as part of a wide range of regulatory measures, including a national register of landlords, licensing, regulatory standards and more secure tenancy agreements to make renting more affordable, secure, stable and decent across the nation, as argued for in the UNISON Housing Voice Report.”
