Landlord Products / ServicesUPDATE (29/05/2024):
It appears my spider senses were on the money this time! The Renters Reform Bill, which included the pledge to abolishment Section 21 “no fault” eviction notices, has officially been scrapped. So this blog post is effectively irrelevant at this point.
I’ve written an update here: The Renters Reform Bill Is Dead (Section 21 Lives To Fight Another Day)
Bone me sideways with an award-winning organic pickle! It’s been 3 months since I put ink to paper.
Some will say it’s been too long, others will say it’s not been long enough.
Whichever side of the aisle you sit your rotund arse on, I’m officially back from my sabbatical, and you will enjoy my return whether you like it or not, because I’ve missed you!
Of all people, my mate Michael Gove resurrected my microphone with a kiss of life. He’s been hitting the airwaves again, reaffirming the Tory party’s brazen pledge to officially bury our beloved Section 21 possession notices (England) into the ground, by the next general election (January 2025).
Well, shheeeet!
I’ve been radio silent on this issue so far because I wasn’t convinced it was going to happen for certain (I’m still not), but for the first time, I’m getting cock-sure vibes from Gove that the abolishment is imminent, within the framework of the Renters (Reform) Bill. So it’s a now-or-never moment!
You really want to do this, huh, Gove? Well let’s bloody do it then!
Initial thoughts on Section 21 getting the death sentence!
Call me Captain Sceptical, but I’m pretty sure this whole let’s abolish no-fault evictions movement is as dumb as a bum-bag full of rocks, and its single reason for existing is to help a shamelessly desperate political party win some desperately needed votes. From 11 million renters [in England], to be precise.
“WHAT? And you think Labour will do any better, you lefty-lunatic?”
Relax, darling!
Rest assured that my low opinion is shared equally among all mainstream political parties right now. Including Labour. The state of British politics is embarrassing; it’s not even wallowing in the gutter – it’s a slapstick, low-budget comedy spectacle at the local community hall carpark, one that hosts car boot sales over the weekends. It’s straight up trash.
I was briefly tempted to jump onto the bandwagon by doing the whole trendy “open letter” [to Michael Gove] thing, but then I decided against self-inflicted and imminent death from cringe. Is it just me, or are people going open-letter doolally? They seem so melodramatic and self-indulgent. Do they even achieve anything, other than clearing out my intestine from projectile vomiting?
Anyways.
Is the Section 21 ban really, really, really happening?
Dunno. Probably. (I’m not convinced.)
I take political party pledges as seriously as I take flat-earthers. But let’s hypothetically imagine that hell has frozen over and politicians are serious about delivering pledges.
Okay, I believe you then!
So let’s unwrap it…
Most people don’t even know WTF Section 21 is – and that’s a WIN for the Government!
The government isn’t really selling the abolishment of S21, what they’re actually selling is the idea of “security” for a huge chunk of society.
“Vote for us and we’ll give renters more security by banning S21”
Amazing. Sign me up!
Alas, very few actually know how that will provide security – including those that think they do – so it’s impossible for them to truly grasp the potential consequences. But no matter, the headline sells itself.
No word of a lie, I’ve yet to encounter a single abolish S21 cheerleader, including “journalists” covering the issue, that is legitimately familiar with what a S21 notice is, such as what function it serves, how it differs from a Section 8 notice, and how our clogged up (and evidently, inadequate) legal system encourages the usage of the notices.
The ignorant and widely accepted view is that it’s an unfair eviction notice that can be served on a whim at any time by landlords. It’s not. It’s technically not even an eviction notice.
Wait, is it Tuesday? Gosh, I need to hurry along and issue my tenant with a S21 notice. My tenant is great, can’t fault him, but it’s no-fault Tuesday.
The Section 21 stats are worthless. They have to be!
Pro-abolish Section 21 campaigners love reciting frightening stats, “look at how many Section 21 notices have been issued!!! Landlords are out of control, we must take back control!”
Firstly, I can’t even fathom how it’s possible to accurately track how many S21 notices have been issued. Between you and me, I don’t think it is.
Secondly, since S21 is a “no fault” possession notice, it’s impossible to know *why* the notices are served.
This reinforces my argument, there’s a prevalent lack of understanding of the legal system and deliberate attempts to misguide voters. In many cases, S21 notices are served to remove tenants at the end of the fixed or periodic term that have violated the terms of their tenancy agreement. But this is not made clear.
Landlords in mass aren’t serving S21 to remove tenants in the middle of a tenancy term for no reason – that would be mental, not to mention illegal. That’s not a real world problem, but the narrative and stats are being used to paint that picture.
When a tenant is in breach of the tenancy agreement, landlords can obviously issue a Section 8 eviction notice, specifying the ground(s) for eviction, but our quirky legal system has rendered it more efficient to use a S21 possession notice, so that’s what we often do. Basically (as many of you will already know), when dealing with rogue tenants, it’s often easier and quicker to issue a Section 21 notice and wait for the fixed or periodic term to end before repossessing the property, rather than serving a Section 8 and potentially have the ground(s) for eviction contested in court by the tenant, for a long drawn out process.
You can either walk barefoot to Scotland from England or jump on a train. Both will work. Take your pick.
In the real world, S21 notices are not solely used on the grounds of “no fault” – and they never have been.
This is sadly misunderstood by most people, and it’s a clear demonstration of how the stats and narrative don’t reflect reality.
The government is well aware of this – they have to be – but they often massage the facts to assist with their knight in shining armour pantomime.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the issuance of S21 notices increased during a cost-of-living crisis, which ironically, is strongly believed to be brought on by our own government’s making.
What’s more likely, more tenants falling into arrears during a housing and cost-of-living crisis and consequently receiving S21 notices, or a sudden uptick in landlords booting out good tenants for no bloody reason and/or greed?
Create the virus, sell the [duff] cure. Genius!
Abolishing Section 21 won’t make much difference to most decent landlords
It’s comical that there is a narrative suggesting that there is a gigantic group of landlords that are not interested in long-term decent tenants.
Do they even realise how expensive it can be to change tenants, let alone the risk involved with escorting good tenants off the premises?
Come on, this is fantasy.
Again, the vast majority of landlords don’t issue S21 notices for shits and giggles. It just doesn’t happen. That’s why, on a personal level, I’m not overly concerned about the pledge. But I do think the pledge is a shameless ruse that needs exposing.
Will killing off S21 help suppress the minority rogue landlords from operating?
Sure. And according to Gove, that’s precisely who they’re targeting. But at what cost?
Abolishing Section 21 will probably impact tenants more than landlords
While this pledge is packaged and sold as a precise operation to shut down the small minority of rogue landlords that abuse S21, the backlash will likely be, well, not so precise, with a lot of unintended targets, namely the tenants!
The poetic irony of the kill-shot.
Rudimental critical thinking suggests that if landlords don’t have an easy passage to regain possession, they will either vacate the PRS (e.g. sell-up or switch to an Airbnb/short-let model, which reportedly, has already been happening), or stick around and become more selective, making it even more difficult for tenants, including decent ones, to secure accommodation. Just by more landlords making the simple and sensible decision to make tenant guarantors a requirement will heighten the barrier to entry, one many won’t be able to overcome.
Despite popular belief, a lot of us landlords are empathetic creatures, and we often exercise great leniency by accepting applicants that aren’t always the most desirable on paper.
I suspect leniency will fall off a cliff if this pledge comes to fruition.
Moreover, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a surge in S21 notices being issued before the deadline, by landlords that have already been exposed to concerning signals from their current tenants. Once the ban kicks in, we know it might become excruciatingly more difficult and expensive to resolve issues if they escalate.
As my mum always says, “it’s better to nip it in the butt before the butt gets too big!”
’cause then you need to buy new clothes and stuff. It’s just a nightmare.
These reactions seem like obvious side-effects, so in an environment where demand for rental properties significantly surpasses supply, it feels like an objectively risky gamble for the government to make.
Fortunately, we have an incredibly robust and well-funded social housing system to help pick up the pieces if this goes to shit. Heaven forbid if that wasn’t the case.
Just as an off-the-cuff thought, how will insurance companies respond? Won’t the legal costs for evictions suddenly become more expensive, resulting in higher premiums? If so, landlords may find themselves grappling with increased operational costs – where on earth could they possibly turn to offset these additional financial burdens? It’s a mystery!
But it will be fine. We have a magic money-tree!
So, if landlords heavily rely on S21 to evict rogue tenants – a process that isn’t particularly resource-hungry on the courts, comparative to S8 – what’s going to happen once it’s binned? There’s going to be a natural and obvious increase in the usage of the resource-hungry Section 8 route. Unfortunately, our courts are already clogged up to the balls with Section 8 eviction cases.
This has been acknowledged by the government, including The Gove’ster.
But it’s okay, they have a credible solution.
Wait for it, it’s brilliant.
Ladies and gents, they have in their possession another money-tree prime to be shaken.
And it’s beautiful.
I know what you’re thinking.
Nope, we can’t sufficiently fund our health service, police force, or education system, or any other public service for that matter. But you’re telling me landlords will have sufficient funding for evictions?
Yup, you got it.
We have been assured that there will be funds made available to our legal system so it can handle the expected increase in Section 8 cases after S21 ceases to exist (so is that an admission to how misleading the S21 stats are?).
We will have outlawed it [Section 21] and we will put the money into the courts in order to ensure that they can enforce it…
– Michael Gove
Again, call me Captain Sceptical, but my bullshit meter is going berserko. And not just because I’ve been on the NHS hip replacement waiting list for 50 years.
Speaking of which, where’s my fucking hip, Gove? Is it up Sunak’s arse?
Sadly, this might work in the government’s favour, as I can quite vividly imagine a continued overloading of the courts – even after the said funding is injected into the system – resulting in a slowdown in evictions. This can be used to claim a victory, giving credence to the amazing pledge they introduced. Brilliant.
Final thoughts…
Ultimately, if this pledge comes to pass, I believe it’s only a matter of time before tenants realise very little has changed for them, and that’s because S21 is currently deeply misunderstood and intentionally misrepresented for political gain.
*tap* *tap* Is this thing working? Where’s my security? Why am I’m still being evicted for rent arrears?
Because you don’t even know what you voted for, doofus!
However, as a landlord that relies on and craves long-term tenants, I’m not particularly worried if it gets the greenlight – nothing changes, it’s business as usual! I am, however, concerned that the government won’t be able to sufficiently pump enough cheese into the legal system to produce a bearable eviction process. I think most landlords will share the same concerns, which is why it will only result in added hardship for tenants to find accommodation.
I want to be proven wrong. Sincerely! But as it stands, I’m convinced this will end in a net negative for tenants, and this is just another fine example of politicians doing politician things.
As for my old mucker Michael Gove. As far as politicians go, my gut seems to be able to tolerate him, particularly throughout this ordeal. He’s made reasonable points, and doesn’t seem to have an agenda against private landlords; he’s been vocal about the necessity of a healthy PRS. A part of me feels like he’s under pressure to deliver this vote-winning pledge, even though he’s aware that the movement is largely driven by ignorance, and consequently may not bring about the impactful change that many are hoping for.
Rock on!
Landlord out xo
Disclaimer: I'm just a landlord blogger; I'm 100% not qualified to give legal or financial advice. I'm a doofus. Any information I share is my unqualified opinion, and should never be construed as professional legal or financial advice. You should definitely get advice from a qualified professional for any legal or financial matters. For more information, please read my full disclaimer.
THE LANDLORD GAMES OVER ............... 12 MONTHS OF MASSIVE CRYPTO GAINS.
ILL BE 46 AND RETIRED,
STILL LOVE THE BLOGG EVEN THOUGHT SOLD ALL ALL MY RENTALS 5 YEARS AGO.
GREAT HUMOUR
CHEERS