Revenge evictions are being wrongly painted by Shelter as a crisis.
Richard Lambert, chief executive of the National Landlords Association, said that Shelter’s figures on retaliatory evictions did not stand up to scrutiny.
Lambert said: “Shelter’s figures suggest there has been a rise in complaints concerning retaliatory or revenge evictions.
“The difficulty is how to prove that issuing possession proceedings really is an act of retaliation against a tenant. Simply serving a Section 21 notice should not be classed as a revenge eviction.
“There are many reasons a landlord would need or want to serve one, and so long as they do it the right way, it is their right to do so for whatever reason they think fit.
“The overwhelming majority of landlords want their property occupied, rent paid and for their tenants to have a comfortable long-term tenancy. Like any other business they want happy customers and steady income.
“They’re not out for revenge; we don’t talk about any other service provider seeking revenge from their customers and there is no reason to suspect landlords are any different.”
He added: “Seeking possession can be an expensive business, often stressful for the landlord as well as the tenant.”
Lambert accepts that revenge evictions do happen, however – but not at crisis level. He calls for councils to prosecute bad landlords who fail to maintain their properties and force them out of the sector.
He adds: “Councils should also receive a proportion of prosecution fines in order to incentivise future enforcement activity to protect tenants from the few who think they can get away with poor or illegal property practices.”
http://nlauk.wordpress.com/2014/07/07/revenge-evictions-the-new-crisis-that-isnt/
Comments (2)
'Eviction' is such an emotive term. As regards 'revenge' I have rarely seen such a thing as void periods often follow when in fact a tax deductible maintenance charge is an easier option. I have seen landlords bend over backwards to help tenants who have refused access except after work or at weekends. A Landlord who says "I have done all I can – if they aren't happy, they can leave" is hardly serving a dish best served cold.
And what about tenants who rent for a fixed term of their choosing then don't want to leave who take revenge on the Landlords property simply because he is required by Law to serve a S21 to end the agreed term?
No agent enjoys of benefits from evictions. It's horrid, time consuming and only undertaken as a general rule when the tenant has done something wrong.
As is often the case, the rogue element are making it bad for the rest of us – and the likes of Shelter, perhaps with their own agenda, blow it out of proportion. Our industry is continuously under attack and Government should sort out the mess known as lettings, rather than add to the problems with poorly thought out legislation and reluctance to regulate the sector.