Tenants would be better protected from rogue landlords and retaliatory evictions under plans put forward by Burnham-On-Sea’s MP at this week’s Liberal Democrats conference.
Tessa Munt, pictured at the conference on Wednesday, said current rules mean landlords can evict tenants with just two months’ notice and without having to give a reason.
Rogue landlords often use this provision to evict tenants rather than carry out much-needed repairs, knowing that they will easily be able to find a new tenant because there is such a high demand for rented housing.
Over the last five years, an average of 324,000 households across the UK each year have been the victims of retaliatory evictions, and one in eight tenants admits they have not asked their landlords for repairs to be carried out for fear of retaliatory action.
The plans passed on Wednesday (October 8th) mean that any tenant who reports problems to a landlord and is subsequently served with a Section 21 eviction notice would have the right to an appeal. Landlords would also be barred from serving a Section 21 notice for six months after receiving an Improvement Notice or an Emergency Remedial Action Notice from a local authority.
Tessa Munt said: “Tenants have a right to live in homes of a decent standard. They should also have the right to live without the fear that making reasonable requests for repairs to be carried out won’t mean they end up being kicked out of their homes.”
“There are plenty of good landlords out there, but there is also a group of rogue landlords who exploit the popularity of the rented housing market to dodge making vital repairs to their properties. Over 300,000 people each year are victims of retaliatory eviction and it has to stop.”
“By changing the law, we will force landlords to carry out essential repairs on their properties and keep their tenants’ homes up to a decent standard, giving security to tenants and improving the standard of homes in the private rented sector.”
