No fault eviction

[clarkkentsglasses]

Forgive me for being stupid ....

What does the "no fault eviction" actually mean?

So for example, my landlord is selling due to various different reasons which is fine, I'll just move on. But could I just stay there if I wanted now?

It means that the eviction is not your fault. You're not getting evicted for unpaid rent, antisocial behaviour, property damage, ect.

I mean, technically you could, but you'd eventually get kicked out and lose out on your recommendation.

Ah I see thank you! Very helpful

So for example, my landlord is selling due to various different reasons which is fine, I'll just move on. But could I just stay there if I wanted now?

I don't think so, landlords are still allowed to evict to sell aren't they?

Labour plan to abolish the section 21 notice (no fault eviction).

This means that at the end of a fixed term tenancy only the tenant/s can end the tenancy (the landlord can’t gain back possession).

So if the landlord had financial difficulties and needed to regain possession of the property (at the end of the AST term) for example to settle debts, such as mortgage arrears. The landlord won’t be able to do that.

It's getting rid of S21 evictions, so no more as the tenancy has ended. I don't know if they are going to give thought to what constitutes a S8 eviction, for example the old protected tenancies had a clause that the landlord could issue proceedings if it was his only or principal home. Or if he was a minister of the church or missionary and was needing the property for his own use. Weird, but still. I will be interested if they revise those too. But yes no more S21 notices.

They will need to retain the landlord ability to take back the property if they wish to sell it or live in it - otherwise all the landlords will be selling up quickly !

This isn't right. While the ability to serve notices ending the tenancy under s21 is likely to be removed, the grounds for possession under s8 will remain which include repossession for the landlord to occupy or failure to pay rent.

What about selling because they want to?

Hopefully LLs will still be able to sell if they want to. Otherwise the rental market will shrink dramatically as its already very regulated. LL's will use the s8 eviction instead (many use S21 because it cant be challenged by bad tenants who try and hold proceedings up despite not paying rent/trashing the place).

However if you just want to sell
to capitalise your asset? What then? Living in it is what some might do but for lots of people it was an investment. We sold up. Too much of a gamble to keep. This will mean the landlord with very few properties, or one, needs to be very careful or they won’t get the property back.

It’s not the fault of the tenant the landlord wants to sell. If there was enough social housing to go round, and tenants could move on easily, this might not matter. As it stands, it makes the LL the villain.

The landlord will still be able to give you notice if they want to sell, move into the property or move family into the property. It's been like that in Scotland for a few years now.

@CitrineRaindropPhoenix You must have evidence of where the tenant has broken the agreement to use s8. The whole reason a s21 is “no fault” is because the LL decides they want the property back. The tenant won’t have done anything wrong. This LL right is going so only companies should now be letting property who run it as a business. It’s too risky for most occasional landlords.

@LordPercyPercy That is by no means clear. What if every LL says this to sue a s21.? If they mean ending s21 no fault evictions, then that should mean evicting because the LL wants to sell. If not, what’s the point? Nothing changes.

tizerofizz - For many s21 evictions the tenant will have done lots wrong. But if the LL wont get any money back from them anyway its quicker to use this than the s8 which the tenant can challenge. if the tenant isnt paying rent and trashing the place, then many LLs (like us ) use s21 as it gets rid of bad tenants more quickly.

I'm just looking for the sales property market to pick up and then i'm off, removing several good places from the rental market

Yeah, way to decrease the rental pool further 💪

I'd be interested to know the living situations and numbers of properties owned by the idiots that campaign for all this on the small landlord.

None of this applies to the large landlords government cronies , housing associations and councils 🙄

This will cause a huge shortage of rental homes, because landlords will sell up and other people will not buy homes to rent out if they can’t easily get them back.
it’s only a good idea to build lots of social housing if you stop the right to buy. Otherwise all the council accommodation you build will just get bought up leading to no more council homes (again) . There are lots of properties to buy if you are fortunate to be in this position, so they need to get rid of right to buy now and protect people who need social housing.

For many s21 evictions the tenant will have done lots wrong.

DH rented out his mother's house when she went into a care home. Some lovely tenants, but then one who - although he paid the rent and didn't trash the place - was a complete nightmare to deal with. Kept making unreasonable demands for improvements and inventing non existent problems (eg getting the council in because the CH wasn't working ... he'd turned it off.) . The stress of dealing with him caused DH a heart problem (cancelled holiday and a procedure) ...

I think I must be missing something. If a landlord is still free to sell the property, regain possession for their own use, and evict bad tenants (albeit with a more lengthy process), what actual difference will this make in practical terms?

At the end of a tenancy, assuming that the LL doesn't want to sell and the tenants are paying their rent and looking after the property, what would lead a LL to evict them and find new tenants?

An example might be to take it back to renovate it and put back on the rental market at a higher price.

Another might be where the tenant has since gotten a pet that the landlord didn't want there so they issued s21 and could do so.

pastandpesto - you are right in some respects it wont make any difference. However, it will make it harder for LLs to evict bad tenants, which may result in LLs selling up and less rental properties available......I'm a LL so biased. It will also clog the courts up more as some tenants will contest, so they can stay in property longer (even if they trash the place and dont pay rent).

That makes sense, thank you. I'm not very up to date on tenancy laws - if a LL wanted to substantially increase the rent, it would be easier to to this by starting afresh with new tenants, than by trying to force the existing tenants to pay more when they extend their tenancy? Is that correct?

Yes often.

Well they just reduced the rental pool even further so watch rents increase further.

🙄

I am a LL and selling right now for this very reason. Selling to down-sizers/owner-occupiers. So one less rental available -but the Labour plans make it not worth keeping. I have always kept rents low and complied with all legislation and in fact have kept viewings to a minimum to avoid disturbance to the tenants.
So well done Labour /another blow to renters.