The thought of being unfairly evicted is something that concerns many tenants, but the reality is that it very rarely happens. Over 4 million households are renting privately in England and according to the government's own English Housing Survey, only 8% of tenancies are ended by the landlord. So you have over a 90% chance of not being evicted when you let a property, and if the landlord has no reason to evict you, it’s highly unlikely you will lose your home. 

Reasons for eviction

When tenants are evicted, it’s almost always because they have breached their tenancy agreement. The two most common Section 8 grounds are rent arrears and antisocial behaviour—usually either excess noise or drug-related.

Of course, a landlord can evict a tenant with two months’ written notice via a Section 21 without having to give a reason, provided the tenancy is not within the first 6 months or a fixed-term tenancy. Although this type of ‘no fault’ eviction has been in the headlines for some time and the government is currently proposing to abolish it in the Renters (Reform) Bill, landlords just don’t tend to evict a tenant if they are paying their rent and looking after the property.

Tenants' rights: eviction notices

Often, even when a tenant has breached their agreement, landlords will use a Section 21 rather than a Section 8 notice. That’s because if the tenant refuses to leave at the end of two months, the landlord can apply for a possession order via the accelerated procedure, which tends to be much quicker as it doesn’t require a court hearing, unlike a section 8 eviction. Both notices can be used to evict tenants who have assured shorthold tenancies.

Section 21

A Section 21 notice is used by a landlord when they wish to evict their tenants without a cause. However, this can only be used on the following:

• after a fixed-term tenancy ends
• during a periodic tenancy (a tenancy with no end date)

A landlord cannot serve you with a section 21 if you have been in the property for less than 4 months. For more information on this, and other reasons why a section 21 notice might be invalid, please read our blog "Can a landlord evict me".

Section 8

A Section 8 notice is used by a landlord when they want to evict a tenant due to a breach of contract on the tenant's end. A landlord can give the tenant a notice period between 2 weeks or 2 months, depending on which contract terms have been broken.

Again, for more information on eviction notices and illegal evictions, please read our blog "Can a landlord evict me".

Will a section 21 notice be abolished – and when?

The Renters (Reform) Bill was introduced to Parliament on 17th May 2023 and will be debated for the first time when it gets to the ‘second reading’ stage in the House of Commons. It normally takes around a year for a bill to progress through parliament, and a date for the second reading has not yet been announced, so it’s highly unlikely that any law will be passed before autumn 2024. And with a general election expected to be held before the end of January 2025, a change in government could result in the Bill being substantially amended or even withdrawn. 

Even if the scrapping of section 21 were to go ahead in the next year or so, it shouldn’t make much difference in practice, either to landlords or tenants. Usually, if a tenant is being evicted when they haven’t done anything wrong, it’s because the landlord wants to either sell the property or move into it themselves, and both of those will continue to be valid grounds under section 8. It may simply end up being the case that it will take slightly longer to remove tenants who refuse to leave a property if the accelerated possession procedure disappears. 

All in all, if you have rented through a reputable agent or landlord and are abiding by the terms of your tenancy, paying rent on time and in full, the risk of being evicted is very slim indeed.

Note: This information relates to evictions in England. See the relevant government websites for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-fairer-private-rented-sector/a-fairer-private-rented-sector 

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