The Renters’ Rights Act comes into force tomorrow (May 1), marking one of the biggest changes to England’s private rental system since 1988.
Part of the new legislation means that landlords will no longer be able to issue tenants with a section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction notice.
For tenants across the country, the change should be good news as it means, among other things, it will be harder for landlords to cancel tenancies.
But in the build-up to the change, some renters have found themselves forced out of their homes by landlords who are selling up to beat deadline.
Acorn, a community union who have been campaigning on the issue, told The Guardian that no-fault evictions rose from 1 in 5 member reports in October to nearly 1 in 3 by January.
Tenants Will Larkin, 33, and his 64-year-old mother, Sally, are among those affected. Have lived in their Lenton home for a year but in February, they were told to leave.
“We received an email telling us that the landlord is selling the house as it is ‘no longer financially viable’ on February 24, right as I was about to finish work,” says Will. They were subsequently sent a section 21 notice, a so-called ‘no-fault’ eviction, which the new legislation will abolish once it comes into effect.
Straightaway Will decided to fight the eviction.
“The day after receiving the section 21, I contacted the council, my MP, Lilian Greenwood, Shelter and Citizens’ Advice, along with the Nottingham Law Centre to get advice and to fight it. I also contacted [community housing organisation] ACORN, who have been fighting this with me and mum ever since.”
He says attempts to negotiate with the letting agent offered little clarity.
“A couple of weeks later, the letting agent called my mum to say that if we agreed to pay an extra £100 in rent from this month, she could possibly convince the landlord that we could stay.”
‘We’re good tenants, all we want is to make the house our home’
At this point, communication more or less dried up, he says, with the agents apparently ignoring efforts to contact them or only part-responding to emails.
Weeks later, the situation shifted again when Will and Sally got an email from the agent saying their rent was going up by £100 but with no explanation of why.
They went with Acorn and a Nottingham City Council official to the agent’s business address to try and meet with her, but Will says she refused.
“She was giving different excuses and then called the police on us, who took no further action as we didn’t do anything wrong,” he claims.
“On the same day, [the agent] was suddenly able to reply to emails from the council and our MP. She ignored our requests for the landlord’s details and only until we reminded her that she was breaking the law and could be fined by the council by £2,500 did she give us the landlord’s address.”
Since then, Will has tried to appeal to the landlord directly.
“I have since sent a handwritten letter to the landlord, based in London, pleading with her to reconsider. She has yet to respond, despite me leaving mine and my mum’s email addresses.”
Will claims that the reasoning for the eviction has changed multiple times during this time.
Will and his mother moved to the house from Ilkeston following the death of Will’s father and had saved for two and a half years to make it possible.
The threat of losing their home has caused mounting stress, making him so ill he has had to take time off from his job as a civil servant.
“We’re good tenants, we look after the house and the garden and all we want is to make it our home, which it has been. We love it here.”
The letting agent has been contacted for a response.