5: Section 6B: The potential 'eviction loophole' in the Renters' Rights Bill
A central component of the Renter’s Rights Bill is its aim to abolish no-fault evictions. However, in March, new insight from Inventory Base found that the legislation contained a significant loophole that could enable landlords to evict tenants under the guise of having to conduct major maintenance work.
After analysing data around landlord possession actions in England & Wales, Inventory Base saw a sharp rise in the number of tenants being forced out of their rented properties over recent years.
In 2020, court bailiffs executed 7,451 repossession orders, followed by 9,471 in 2021. But then, in 2022, when the eviction ban introduced during the pandemic was lifted, the number of repossessions soared to 19,651. The annual total jumped to 25,282 in 2023 and then to 27,993 in 2024.
