HOUSING
Renters who complain are twice as likely to be evicted by their landlord
Private renters who complained to their landlord about conditions in their home are more than twice as likely to be evicted from their home than tenants who have kept quiet, a new YouGov poll has shown.
Tenants who complained to landlords, letting agents or the local authority over the last three years were 159 per cent more likely to be handed an eviction notice.
The threat of eviction meant a quarter of private renters – equivalent to just over two million people – were afraid to complain to their landlord in case they were kicked out of their home.
The poll, which quizzed two million renters in England on behalf of housing charity Shelter, showed the need for the government’s long-promised Renters Reform Bill to be brought into force to strengthen tenant’s rights, the charity’s chief executive Polly Neate said.
“By dragging its heels on the Renters Reform Bill, the government has left private renters in a terrible Catch-22 – they either shut up and put up with disrepair, or risk more than doubling their chances of eviction in a cost-of-living crisis,” said Neate.
The government laid out its plans to introduce the Renters Reform Bill last June – over three years after initially promising to axe Section 21 evictions. Also known as no-fault evictions, the mechanism allows landlords to evict tenants with just two months’ notice and without giving a reason.
Shelter has called
