Housing reforms unveiled by the government yesterday could see vulnerable tenants evicted from their homes on anti-social behaviour grounds when they have done nothing wrong, a law centre solicitor has warned.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said the Renters (Reform) Bill, introduced to parliament yesterday, will abolish section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions. It will also ‘strengthen powers to evict anti-social tenants’.

However, Simon Mullings, housing team leader at Hammersmith & Fulham Law Centre, is worried that the government’s proposed amendment lowers the threshold for evicting someone on anti-social behaviour grounds.

Ground 14 of the Housing Act 1988 allows a landlord to seek possession if the tenant is guilty of conduct causing or likely to cause a nuisance or annoyance to the landlord. However, the government proposes replacing ‘likely to cause’ with ‘capable of causing’.

Simon Mullings

Mullings is worried that the proposed amendment lowers the threshold for evicting someone on anti-social behaviour grounds

Mullings told the Gazette: ‘You could have someone evicted for behaviour not causing a nuisance but capable of causing a nuisance. We’re all capable of anti-social behaviour. I fear it will be most often deployed against vulnerable people who [display] odd behaviour because of their vulnerabilities.’

He added: ‘Hoarding cases can be one where it is capable of causing a nuisance, but it is not necessarily a nuisance. I would hate to see people being evicted for what is often a psychological problem.’

The bill will introduce a private rented sector ombudsman to provide a ‘quicker, cheaper and less adversarial’ route to resolving issues. A privately rented property portal will help landlords understand their legal obligations and provide tenants with better information to make informed decisions when entering into a tenancy agreement.

Mullings said the two measures, on the face of it, will be helpful for tenants.

Law Society president Lubna Shuja welcomed the end of 'no fault' evictions. 'The Law Society has long called for the ban and is pleased that renters will no longer have to face homelessness through no fault of their own,' she said. 'Whilst this proposed change is needed, it is not likely to be introduced for some time. Renters on low incomes are facing homelessness today and need to be able to access free legal advice to defend their rights.'

 

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