Responding to news that the Conservatives have abandoned their pledge to ban no-fault evictions – leaving Northumberland’s 27,318 renters without the protection they were promised, Northumberland Labour’s Deputy Shadow Cabinet Member for Housing Councillor Anna Watson said, 

“It’s now over five years since the Tories promised to scrap Section 21 no-fault evictions. Yet thousands of renters across Northumberland are still without protection, still vulnerable to eviction at any moment. This is a staggering betrayal of Northumberland renters.

“Families in Northumberland need the protection they were promised – yet Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives seem too weak to stand up to the vested interests blocking reform. That leaves local renters with the threat of having their lives thrown upside down through no-fault evictions.

“But Labour has a plan – our Renters’ Charter will give renters the certainty and protection they need.

“It’s time to turn the page on years of Conservative failure, it’s time for change, it’s time to vote Labour.”

Analysis from Northumberland Labour – based on figures published by the Ministry of Justice  – reveals there are now 147 local families who have faced proceedings to eject them from their home in the years since the Tories promised to ban the practice in April 2019, part of an ever-growing number across the country now approaching 90,000 households.

‘No-fault evictions’, also known as Section 21 notices, allow landlords to order tenants to leave with a minimum of two months’ warning – without having to prove that the tenant is at fault. The figure is based on the number of no-fault eviction letters that have been followed up with a possession claim in the courts. The true scale of the problem could be far worse, as not all Section 21 notices will necessarily reach this stage.

There are 27,318 households privately renting in Northumberland – each and every one still vulnerable to no fault evictions more almost five years after the Conservative Government promised to stamp them out.

Labour has called for real action to support renters including a Renters’ Charter, providing new certainty for renters, ending ‘no-fault’ evictions and introducing four-month notice periods for landlords.