Soaring number of repossession claims by landlords in York

Ministry of Justice figures reveal 39 claims to repossess a property were made by landlords in York between October and December 2023 – more than the same quarter in 2022 when there were 24.

Of these, 11 were Section 21 notices - where a tenant can be evicted without a reason.

Now a York MP has called for greater protection for renters - saying people need more security to make a "rented house a home".

Across England and Wales, landlord repossession claims rose by more than a tenth in the three months to December 2023 compared with the same period in 2022, including a 16 per cent increase in Section 21 notices.

Last month, Housing Secretary Michael Gove said the Government will ban no-fault evictions before the next general election.

The Government first vowed to end Section 21 evictions in 2019, but the rental reforms have not yet been passed.

York Central MP Rachael Maskell called for a shake-up in the laws protecting tenants.

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She said: "People who rent their homes, need the security to make their rented house a home, with new open-ended tenancies to stop unfair, ‘no fault’ evictions.

"The balance of power is too far in the favour of landlords. The rise in the number of homes that are being flipped into short-term holiday lets, as housing supply outstrips demand, is directly linked to the higher rates of rents that are being charged to families and residents.

"It is directly linked to the higher numbers of families and children living in temporary accommodation as they try to find a new suitable home having been evicted.

"Tenancies need to be open-ended, with improved minimum standards, there should be rent controls to manage housing costs and support given to renters’ unions to allow legal protection and support to be given to all residents facing hostile landlords seeking to repossess property."

According to data collected in the 2021 census, 29,104 adults in York rent their properties, across a combination of private and social renting. Meanwhile, 65.9 per cent of adults in York own their own homes.

Housing charity Shelter said the Government reform “must deliver the meaningful change it promised to England’s 11 million private renters almost five years ago”.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “We’re pleased to hear the Housing Secretary reaffirm his commitment to ban no fault evictions before the next election.

“But these figures show that renters are still being marched out of their homes in their thousands, while vested interests in Parliament manoeuvre to weaken urgently needed reforms.”

She added: “Without serious amends, this bill won’t be worth the paper it’s written on. There cannot be any loopholes to banning no-fault evictions and it must not be tied to unspecified court reforms.

“It must deliver the meaningful change it promised to England’s 11 million private renters almost five years ago.”

Meanwhile, the figures also show tenants across England and Wales were evicted from their homes on approximately 6,600 occasions in the latest quarter, including nine evictions in York.

Of them, two evictions in the area were carried out by court ordered bailiffs as a result of Section 21 proceedings.

Francesca Albanese, executive director of policy and social change at homelessness charity Crisis, said: “These figures are a shameful reminder of just how volatile renting a home is.

“Insurmountable pressures of sky rocketing rents and the cost-of-living crisis have left renters struggling to make ends meet, and for many, that has meant losing their home.”

Ms Albanese added the Government must make renting fairer for both tenants and landlords and that the bill must include measures to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place.

Last month Michael Gove told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme the Renters (Reform) Bill currently going through Parliament “ends section 21”.

However, the Government last year said the abolition would not come in until reforms in the court system to ensure it is also a fair process for landlords.

This led to accusations ministers were deprioritising the issue, while charities and campaigners have demanded urgency on fulfilment of the pledge to ban section 21 no-fault evictions.

Asked whether the practice will have ended by the time of a national vote, Mr Gove said: “We will have outlawed it and we will put the money into the courts in order to ensure that they can enforce it.”