Labour-run councils have used a legal loophole to issue almost 200 families with no-fault eviction notices since the party was elected on a promise to ban the practice, a Guardian investigation has found.
Scrapping these orders, known as section 21 evictions, was one of Keir Starmer’s main pledges before last July’s general election but, more than a year later, they remain lawful.
Local authorities cannot normally carry out no-fault evictions. These are permitted if renters have an assured shorthold tenancy, a type of rental agreement offered by private landlords.
However, some councils have been able to sidestep this through arm’s length companies set up to manage their housing stock.
Since Labour gained power, companies owned by five of its councils have started no-fault eviction proceedings against 191 households. Some renters have been taken to court, with several being removed from their homes by bailiffs.
The Guardian revealed last week that Lambeth council, in south London, was engaging in this practice through Homes for Lambeth, a company it set up in 2017 and is in the process of disbanding.
The local authority has issued 63 no-fault eviction notices since last July. Five households have received possession orders through the courts and two have been removed by bailiffs. Lambeth council said it faced “incredibly difficult choices” but had decided to use the properties to house those already homeless.
Jules Zakolska, 27, said she and fellow tenants were “traumatised” by the thought they too may end up in temporary accommodation, adding that some were suicidal.
Documents show Lambeth council delayed full implementation of the plan as it was deemed “too controversial” a decision to take “during the pre-election period”.
Now, it has emerged that four more Labour-run councils – Reading, Blackpool, Nottingham and Enfield – have also issued section 21 notices to tenants renting from their arm’s length housing bodies.
Reading council, in Berkshire, announced plans to close its housing company, Homes for Reading, two weeks after the general election. Since then, 48 households have been served with no-fault eviction notices, 20 of whom have left their properties.
Some vacated homes are being used as temporary accommodation for homeless people, despite the fact they were supposed to be let to key workers. Some families evicted by Homes for Reading have now been forced into temporary accommodation elsewhere in the town.
This includes Charlene Flygring, 38, who received a no-fault eviction notice in May. She and her son, Rion-Aziah, four, have been placed in a bedsit by the local authority. They share a bed and do not have access to a working washing machine.
“Everything seems very hopeless at the moment,” she said. “This place is vile. You either have to accept the offer of temporary accommodation, or you’re homeless. We hate coming back here. If my apartment, which I loved, is also being used as temporary accommodation, I could have stayed there and been near my son’s school.”
A Reading council spokesperson said the decision to close Homes for Reading was taken as a “last resort” after the company’s “viability” was affected by changes to local authority lending rules and economic factors.
He said: “The HfR properties have been bought by the council’s housing revenue account, the legislation for which requires vacant possession at the point the properties are acquired.
“More than half of the properties have now been vacated and are being allocated for their new use as essential housing for local key workers in Reading. A minority are being used for temporary accommodation to house residents in priority need over the short term to cover a local shortage. These properties will then revert to use by key workers.”
He added that the council has worked with tenants to find alternative accommodation, with the support of a dedicated homelessness prevention officer.
Blackpool council, in Lancashire, manages more than 700 rental properties through its arm’s length body, Blackpool Housing Company. It has issued 73 no-fault notices since Labour took power. In the same time, 15 households have received possession orders and three have been evicted by bailiffs.
The Guardian understands that the council often uses the notices as a means of addressing drug use and antisocial behaviour. However, if tenants have breached rental agreements, landlords are supposed to issue another type of eviction notice that allows them to challenge the decision in court.
Blackpool Housing Company said no-fault evictions were seen as a “last resort”. A spokesperson added: “In most cases our notices do not lead to evictions, because the process, coupled with support for the tenant, has successfully resulted in tenancies being sustained. In the very few cases where evictions have happened, that is where extensive support and engagement has not been taken up by the tenant, and no resolution found. In those cases, people do still become eligible for support from the council to find somewhere else to live.”
Nottingham city council established an arm’s length housing management company called Nottingham City Homes in 2004. In 2017, Nottingham City Homes created a subsidiary company that offered assured shorthold tenancies. Both companies were ultimately owned by the local authority.
In 2022, the council announced plans to disband both organisations after it emerged that about £50m of funds reserved for housing services were wrongfully spent. About 100 families with assured shorthold tenancies lost their homes as a result. Although the council began eviction proceedings before the election, it continued to pursue tenants after Labour entered government.
Since then, it has issued two no-fault eviction notices and sought two possession orders from the courts. One property has been seized by bailiffs. A council spokesperson said: “Enforcement action was necessary only after an extended period was provided to allow the tenant further time to move.”
It added that it had “placed a strong emphasis” on supporting tenants throughout the process and “provided flexibility around notice periods wherever possible” and did not plan to carry out more no-fault evictions.
Enfield council, in north London, owns a housing organisation called My Housing Gateway. As well as leasing properties from its own housing stock, it also manages rents on behalf of private landlords. It said five households had been issued with no-fault eviction notices since last July. All were later removed by bailiffs.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions are unacceptable. That’s why we’re banning them through our landmark renters’ rights bill, which is set to become law very soon.”
