‘Ministry of Justice statistics indicate that in 2023 the London evictions increased by an eye-watering 62 per cent on the previous year’

• ONE of the enduring legacies of the present government will be its failure to abolish section 21 “no-fault” evictions, despite it being a commitment in the 2019 Conservative Party manifesto.

Christopher Mason was right to highlight the failure to do this (No-fault eviction survives as an ugly symbol of misrule, June 6) in terms of the thousands of people who were evicted from their home in London in the last year, but if we look at this nationally then the total figure is much higher.

Ministry of Justice statistics indicate that in 2023 the London evictions increased by an eye-watering 62 per cent on the previous year, with all of the resulting misery caused for people who want nothing more than a secure and affordable roof over their head and a landlord who isn’t affronted when they are asked to provide some kind of service in return for the often excessive rents they are charging.

This is why we, along with other members of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, will work tirelessly to make sure that whoever forms the next government will hear the voices of private renters loud and clear and, that this time round, legislation is introduced that will benefit them more than it benefits private landlords.

We will also make sure that the next government fully understands the key role councils have to play when it comes to enforcing standards in the private rented sector, and that this can never be done properly if many of them are facing imminent financial collapse.

According to a Local Government Information Unit survey over half of local councils in England could go “bankrupt” in the next five years. And since 2010 Camden Council has had its funding from central government cut by 55 per cent.

Whether we like it or not, around 36 per cent of households in Camden and 19 per cent in England now live in the private rented sector. What this means is if we can get this sector of housing improved and the power imbalance between tenants and landlords recalibrated then the daily lives of millions of people will only get better.

ROBERT TAYLOR
Organiser
Camden Federation of Private Tenants