A MUM has told how she was evicted despite never missing a rent payment and is now homeless with her young daughters.
Naz Bajeh revealed her plight as a victim of so-called “no-fault evictions” which ministers have vowed to ban.
2
The 25-year-old mum-of-two was ordered in March to get out of her rented property in Southend in Essex.
She described receiving an eviction notice through the post from her landlord, who Naz says “literally just wanted her property back”.
She insisted there had been “no anti-social behaviour, no rent arrears, nothing like that”.
Naz, who has children aged seven and two, had been renting the property for seven years before being told she had to go.
Since then, she and the two girls have been staying in a hostel.
She told BBC Radio 1‘s Newsbeat programme how her two-year-old daughter kept saying: “I want to go home, I want to go mummy’s house.”
Naz added: “I’ve got a two-year-old and a seven-year-old and we’re now homeless.”
Section 21 of existing housing legislation allows landlords to evict tenants without needing to give a reason.
Most read in Money
The government’s Renters (Reform) Bill currently going through Parliament promises to end no-fault evictions, while also stopping landlords from imposing a blanket ban on tenants claiming benefits.
Naz said her search for somewhere new to stay has involved being turned away by landlords when learning she was receiving benefits.
She says they’re often put off by her having two kids aged under 10.
She said: “I have always worked, I’ve always been in education – but obviously when you’re homeless and stuff it’s hard to maintain a job and mental health and everything.
“Landlords just don’t want to give people a chance in the UK – you’ve got to be earning so-and-so much.”
She described the family‘s struggles to find a new home as “really difficult”, viewing 20 properties each day but not getting accepted.
And she said no one appeared “willing to give us a chance”.
Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, says the new bill outlawing no-fault evictions should be approved by the end of this year.
Mr Gove told Newsbeat it would protect people from a “very small minority of rogue landlords who use the threat of no-fault eviction to silence tenants who want to complain about poor conditions”.
The bill is estimated to cover 11million tenants and 2million landlords.
At the moment landlords must give 14 days’ notice before eviction.
Once you’ve received an eviction notice, you have two months before court action can be begun against you – and you could also be liable for some of the legal costs.
A new government-backed initiative was launched last month in England and Wales for people facing eviction or repossession.
Tens of thousands of people each year at risk of losing their homes are now being offered free legal advice.
The new service went live just days after figures revealed a 25-year high in the number of people in temporary housing.
But the move to ban no-fault evictions has prompted concerns about landlords rushing to kick tenants out while they still can.
2
