Over 100,000 households threatened with no-fault evictions since Tories promised to ban them

More than 100,000 households have been threatened with a no-fault eviction in the five years since the then-Conservative government promised to scrap them – with no-fault eviction growing as a cause of homelessness in England.

According to Ministry of Justice figures released on Thursday (8 August), a total of 2,916 households were evicted from their homes through no-fault eviction, also known as a Section 21 eviction, from April to June of 2024 – up from 2,228 during the same timeframe in 2023.

There was also a 9% rise in the number of people served with a no-fault eviction notice from April to June of 2024 compared to the same time last year, up to 8,448.

• Section 21 notice: What is a no-fault eviction? Why are they being scrapped?
• No-fault evictions put households at risk of homelessness over 80,000 times since Tory ban pledge

According to the Renters’ Reform Coalition, the total number of Section 21 claims brought to the courts by landlords since the government pledged to abolish the practice in 2019 now stands at 109,538.

New statutory homelessness statistics from the government also released on Thursday found that 6,630 households were threatened with homelessness after receiving a Section 21 notice, an increase of 1.2% from the same time last year, showing that no-fault evictions are growing as a cause of homeless prevention claims. 

Campaigners and experts have slammed the previous Tory government for failing to act on no-fault evictions, explaining that failing to end the practice has led to “record levels of child homelessness”. 

“Everyone deserves to live in a decent affordable home, but for millions of us this is made impossible by a broken renting system,” Tom Darling, director of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, told the Big Issue. 

“Renters in England have been waiting for years for basic reforms while this social crisis has spiralled out of control, with soaring rents forcing families out of their homes and no-fault evictions leading to record levels of child homelessness.”

Darling explained that while the Labour government has promised to end no-fault evictions, included in the Renters’ Rights Bill put forward in July’s King’s Speech, renters “cannot afford to wait much longer” for protection from eviction. 

“We must see legislation brought forward soon to get a grip on the situation and address the renting crisis,” he said. 

Will the Renters’ Rights Bill ban no-fault evictions?

Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill has promised to put an end to Section 21 evictions, as well as giving additional rights to renters more widely – including powers to challenge rent increases, the right to keep a pet and ending bidding wars for rental properties. 

The new legislation, which has not yet been set a date to pass, would also make it illegal for landlords to discriminate against tenants on benefits or with children. 

Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner described the latest homelessness statistics as a “national scandal”, claiming work is “already underway” to ban no-fault evictions.

“We are facing the most acute housing crisis in living memory and homelessness remains at record levels. This is nothing short of a national scandal,” she said in a statement.

“Urgent action must be taken to fix this. That’s why we are working across government and with local leaders to develop a long-term strategy to end homelessness for good.

“Work is already underway to stop people from becoming homeless in the first place. This includes delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable homebuilding in a generation, abolishing Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions, and a multi-million pound package to provide homes for families most at risk of homelessness.”

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