‘Abolishing Section 21 notices will make evicting anti-social tenants much harder’

The Government must not proceed with its plans to abolish Section 21 evictions until the problem of anti-social behavior by tenants is tackled, it has been claimed.

To prove the point, some 3,500 landlords were quizzed this Autumn and, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has revealed, half of them who had served a repossession order did so due to anti-social behaviour.

Also, 84% of the landlords who experienced anti-social behaviour did not get any help from their local council and 75% were refused help from the police.

Evidence

They also faced difficulty gathering evidence, particularly when it concerned an HMO property because “tenants fear to speak up about other tenants acting aggressively or drinking or on drugs, for fear of safety”, one landlord reported.

Consequently, the NRLA claims banning Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions will make evicting violent or abusive people even more difficult because in the future proving such behaviour will be difficult given a broader public reluctance to give evidence to a judge or help police.

The NRLA is calling for the Government to sort this out by prioritising the needs of anti-social behavior sufferers as set out in the Victims Commissioner’s 2019 report; make it a legal requirement of police and councils to tell landlords when tenants are behaving badly; and prioritise possession hearings that involve anti-social behavior.

Misery

Ben Beadle (pictured), Chief Executive of the NRLA, says: “The vast majority of tenants and landlords have a good relationship.

“However, the minority of renters committing anti-social behaviour cause misery for their fellow tenants and communities more widely.

“The police and councils are failing to provide the support landlords desperately need to take swift and effective action against nightmare tenants.

“This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency before Section 21 repossessions are ended.”

Read more: the nightmare of anti-social behavior among tenants.