End of no-fault evictions to be welcomed but renting woes in UK go far deeper

Press Office
End of no-fault evictions proposed by government
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End of no-fault evictions proposed by government

Professor Peter Taylor-Gooby from SSPSSR comments on moves by the government to end no-fault evictions.

‘It’s good news that the government is planning to ban no-fault evictions. At the same time evictions for a reason (currently a minimum of eight weeks) will be speeded up. More needs to be done to give tenants of private landlords greater security.

‘Some 90% of low-income tenants are living in squalid housing or are pushed into poverty by rents they cannot afford. Official survey figures show that of the 1.4 million low-income renters in the UK, about 10% live in overcrowded properties, 30% in housing that does not meet basic standards of decency and 85% are forced into poverty once the rent is paid.

‘The only real solution is to build more housing for rent at a cost people can afford and that provides proper security for families. This has to involve substantial subsidy, which must come from the government and a social landlord who is not driven by profit.’

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