Michael Gove vows to scrap no fault evictions before election after long delays
A ban on evicting tenants from their homes without cause will come in before the general election, Michael Gove has said.
The Housing Secretary made the guarantee today amid fears the Tories were intending to junk their commitments to no-fault evictions after repeated delays. The Conservatives have been promising to end so-called section 21 evictions since April 2019 - and included it as a pledge in the 2019 manifesto.
Mr Gove agreed to delay the ban in October to appease Tory rebels threatening to vote against his Renters Reform Bill, some of whom are landlords themselves. He argued it would only come into action when the backlog of court cases have eased.
But today Mr Gove shifted his stance, insisting that the ban would be enacted before voters head to the polls. Asked if action could be guaranteed before the election, Mr Gove told BBC's Laura Kuenssberg: "Yes. We have a bill, it's gone through its stages in the House of Commons and that bill does a number of things to help people in the private sector, including ending no fault evictions."
Pressed again, he said: "We will have outlawed it and we will have put the money into the courts in order to ensure that they can enforce that." It comes as new figures this week showed a steep rise in repossessions after no-fault eviction orders in England, increasing by 49% last year.
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
Mr Gove also warned that young people shut out of the UK's housing market could turn to authoritarianism, telling The Sunday Times: "If people think that markets are rigged and a democracy isn't listening to them, then you get - and this is the worrying thing to me - an increasing number of young people saying, 'I don't believe in democracy, I don't believe in markets."'
Labour complained this week that the report stage of the Renters Reform Bill "was promised by early February, but it's nowhere to be seen." Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt made no mention of the legislation when outlining business in Parliament.
Tom Darling, Campaign Manager of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, said: "Saying you’ll do something that was in your manifesto shouldn’t really be breaking news, but it’s a sign of how much the Government have dragged their feet on this that it is. We welcome the commitment that not only will this bill pass, but that section 21 evictions will actually be abolished by the election.
“We will hold the government to this commitment. We’ll also be making sure the Government don’t give in to landlord attempts to gut the bill - if these evictions are banned in name only then the Government won’t be getting a pat on the back from anyone.”
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: "It is shocking that this Conservative Government has repeatedly chosen to delay their promised ban on no fault evictions. Michael Gove's words will ring hollow for those who have waited for so long for this urgently needed reform.
"This Government has turned a blind eye to the housing crisis in this country, 16 housing ministers later, people are still facing the same problems. Renters shouldn't have to face losing their homes through no fault of their own any longer."
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
