THOUSANDS of families are facing homelessness in the run-up to Christmas and new year due to Tory failure to end no-fault evictions, analysis of the latest official figures has shown.
Estimates by the Labour Party last night suggested that on current trends, 5,758 households could be threatened with homelessness in the final quarter of 2023.
This figure is based on the year-on-year 10.3 per cent uplift recorded by the government.
In 2022, during same quarter, 5,220 households were threatened with homelessness because of valid Section 21 notices.
The party’s analysis also suggests that up to 2,447 households face being evicted by bailiffs in a so-called “accelerated procedure” under no-fault evictions.
The government recently introduced a Renter’s Reform Bill, which makes provision to end Section 21 evictions, but ministers have since admitted that these evictions would not be made illegal until “reforms to the justice system are in place.”
Shadow housing secretary Angela Rayner said that a “toxic mix” of rising rents, the cost-of-living crisis and a failure to end no-fault evictions is hitting the most vulnerable this Christmas.
The Labour deputy leader said: “On the Tories’ watch, a homelessness crisis has erupted.
“People are dying on the streets, record children are living in temporary accommodation and private renters have no legal protection against their landlord making them homeless on a whim.
“Having waited years for ministers to deliver on their promise to end no-fault evictions, tens of thousands more families now face the risk of homelessness because of this further delay.”
Ms Rayner said a Labour government would “get the job done” by bringing in the “long-term structural change needed to bring an end to the Tories’ housing crisis.”
Community union Acorn’s head organiser Nick Ballard said the analysis is a “damning indictment of Britain’s housing crisis.”
He told the Star: “The reality is, the government’s foot-dragging and delay over the implementation of the Renters Reform Bill and a long-awaited end to section 21 evictions, first promised over four years ago, is having a very real and damaging impact on the lives of many people in this country.
“The government must bring forward this legislation, and urgently needs to act to get a grip on the growing issue of runaway rents which are forcing people into rent debt and homelessness.”
