We are facing a global crisis. Government guidance has been clear: you must stay home to avoid spreading coronavirus (COVID-19). And from those who are the most vulnerable to the people who need to self-isolate, and for everyone else instructed to stay home to avoid spreading the virus, secure housing is now critical to the safety of the nation.
That’s why we breathed a sigh of relief last week when the government announced a temporary end to evictions and welcomed … Read more
Angela and her son, Kardinell were good tenants, but their lives were upended and Kardinell’s education was disrupted when they were made homeless after being evicted from their private rented home. ‘I felt like I’d let my child down,’ Angela said. ‘How do you explain to a child who’s gone to school in the morning that they’ve got nowhere to live when they come home?’
Angela and Kardinell aren’t the only ones to have had their lives put on hold … Read more
Things are clear. The Conservatives have won a governing majority on a scale not seen since 2005, itself the largest Conservative majority since 1987. This means that the government will be confident of its ability to pass legislation without the confrontation or negotiation with parliament that has become almost normal in recent years.
What the prime minister chooses to do with that majority will be telling. From what we’ve seen so far, things are going to be interesting. The Queen’s … Read more
New research by Shelter shows that Scottish renters have been reaping the benefits of open-ended tenancies since the introduction of the Private Residential Tenancy (PRT) in December 2017.
These new tenancies are helping renters worry less about becoming homeless, worry less about getting locked into inflexible fixed term tenancies, and giving them more faith in politicians.
With the prospect of open-ended tenancies on the horizon for English renters, the early signs from Scotland show that they too stand to benefit from greater security of tenure.
Scottish… Read more
This week, the government announced plans to abolish Section 21 evictions, meaning that private renters can no longer be evicted unless their landlord has a legitimate reason to do so. This is a historic change which will offer Britain’s 11 million private renters the security they have too long been denied.
Shelter has long campaigned for greater security for those living in the private rented sector, from families to older people. And this is an outstanding victory for those who … Read more
Fergus Wilson clearly enjoys the attention that being a hate figure brings.
In the last five years, he’s gone out of his way looking for publicity for his mass evictions and controversial – sometimes unlawful – lettings policies.
But in the wake of a new round of newspaper reports on his decision to evict 90 of his tenants, including nine families with children under ten, it should be clear that vilifying him isn’t enough.
Treating him like a panto … Read more
At Shelter, we do all we can to stand up for renters’ rights. But we know that landlords also face their fair share of problems. Ultimately we want to see a private rental market that works for both landlords and renters.
That’s why, at the beginning of the year Shelter went to visit Landlord Action, a landlord advice and solicitor firm. We wanted to understand more about the problems landlords faced. During this visit we found that there was a … Read more