Section 21 evictions have doubled in Portsmouth year-on-year

On Wednesday the government announced so-called 'no-fault' evictions would be abolished as part of the Renters' (Reform) Bill.

But new figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities show 60 repossessions were made through 'accelerated possession orders' in Portsmouth in the year to March – up from 24 the year before.

The number of repossessions through Section 21 has nearly doubled across England and Wales, rising from just over 4,026 in the year to March 2022 to 8,048 in 2022-23.

This has also topped the 7,742 recorded before the pandemic.

Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, called the bill a ‘breakthrough’.

She added: ‘Private renters have been waiting a long time to see unfair no-fault evictions abolished. Since the government first promised to do this in 2019, 61,000 households have had to face the courts and endure the fear, the panic, and the threat of homelessness that Section 21 evictions cause.’

NOW READ: Giant mechanical fox puppet to tour Gosport

‘But for the bill to work, loopholes cannot be created for unfair evictions to carry on via the backdoor. The Government must ensure when landlords do seek to take their property back that they provide sufficient proof their intentions are legitimate, notice periods are long enough to protect tenants from homelessness, and there are big penalties for misuse.’

Separate figures, also from DLUHC, show 5,120 households were given homelessness duties after being served with a Section 21 notice in the last three months of 2022 – 144 of them in Portsmouth.

This was down slightly from the same period in 2021, when 5,420 were presenting as homeless.

Dan Wilson Craw, acting director of Generation Rent, a campaign group which represents private renters, said: ‘The government cannot let more families face homelessness because of rising bills, so must restore the link between benefits and rents.’

A DLUHC spokesperson said: ‘Our reforms will abolish Section 21 evictions – giving tenants more security and empowering them to challenge unfair rent increases. Only a minority of evictions end up in the courts but we’re reforming the process to reduce delays, ensuring the new tenancy systems works for landlords and tenants.’