Britain’s housing market feels like it’s stuck in the 19th century. Keeping cruel section 21 legislation will make it worse
The Tories have not exactly hidden their contempt for the British public over the past 12 years, but they’re not even trying to maintain the facade any more. In Liz Truss’s latest gambit to hand Keir Starmer the keys to Downing Street, the government may be about to break its promise of banning no-fault evictions. It risks creating a homelessness catastrophe this winter.
In 2019, then prime minister Theresa May announced the renters’ reform bill. Included in the bill was a pledge to abolish section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 – a wonderfully cruel bit of legislation passed by Margaret Thatcher that allows landlords to evict private renters on short notice for no good reason.
Daniel Lavelle writes about mental health, homelessness and social care. He is the author of Down and Out: Surviving the Homelessness Crisis
