The number of households in need of council support for homelessness due to no-fault eviction has increased by more than 50% across northern England over the past three years, exclusive analysis by Sky News shows .
In the Northeast region, the percentage of households homeless or at risk of homelessness due to Section 21 notices, commonly known as no-fault evictions, increased by 88%, according to our analysis of new data from the Department of Upgrades, Housing and Communities.
In the UK as a whole, there was an 18% increase from Q2 2019 to Q2 2022.
Section 21 notice allows landlords to evict tenants on Guaranteed Short-Term Leases, the most common type of tenancy in the private rental sector, without cause with just notice two months before.
During the pandemic, this measure was extended to six months to make it safer for tenants, but the government withdrew the measure in October 2021.
Why is this happening?
Chaos in the private rental sector is having a devastating knock-on effect on homelessness.
Half of the homeless or at-risk households come from the private rental sector under Guaranteed Short-Term Leases, up from one-fifth in Q2 2019.
This means it is now the most common reason people need council support. In the past, the most likely reason was that family and friends were no longer able to provide accommodation.
Our analysis shows a marked increase in homelessness as a result of Landlords want to sell or sublease their property.
The number of households supported with homelessness for this reason has increased by 44% in the UK and 170% in the North East.
Nathan Emerson, chief executive officer of host member organization Propertymark, says the increase in evictions is the result of a backlog caused by the ban during the pandemic and the unfavorable economic and regulatory outlook. beneficial to the homeowner.
“What we have is a bottleneck in the housing system due to COVID and the restrictions there,” he said.
Mr Emerson added that many homeowners earn just a few hundred pounds, which means it can be difficult for them to absorb the rising mortgage and maintenance costs.
“Not all homeowners are big institutional millionaires. The average homeowner has one, two or three properties,” he said. “If they have to make repairs once or twice a year, that could cost them all their money.”
But Mr. Emerson says the underlying cause is housing shortageare increasingly making housing out of pocket for many.
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“The housing crisis is the result of severe failures over the last 10 or 20 years, when government construction targets were not met and investment was not made in social housing infrastructure.
“One area that is strengthening to make up the shortfall is the private rental sector, but they are punishing those people and discouraging them from entering the market.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Upgrades, Housing and Communities said: “We know how difficult this winter will be and no individual or their family should be left without a home throughout this period of time. that time.
“This government is committed to abolishing Section 21 evictions, protecting 1.3 million families with children from being displaced and has provided £316 million this year to councils to help ensure We’ve also set aside £37 billion in support measures for those struggling with the rising cost of living.
“Our interventions are working – our Homelessness Reduction Act has seen more than half a million households not become homeless or receive permanent housing assistance.” since 2018 and our £11.5 billion Affordable Housing Program will continue to deliver affordable housing across the country.”
The Data and forensics group is a multi-skill unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We collect, analyze and visualize data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite imagery, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling, we aim to better explain the world and show what journalism is like.
