St Helens tenants threatened with soon abolished Section 21 evictions

Last month, the Government announced that its "once in a generation" Renters' Reform Bill will soon spell the end of Section 21 evictions.

Under the government's Housing Act, Section 21 evictions became known as a 'no fault' order, as private landlords were able to repossess their properties without having to establish any fault on the part of the tenant, and so could render tenants homeless without any fault of their own.

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Dozens handed Section 21 notices in St Helens

Tenants have been threatened with homelessness due to the Section 21 notices (Image: Stock)

Although the government's Bill is likely to become law later this year, figures show that dozens of tenants in St Helens were threatened with Section 21 notices last year.

Data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities shows that 195 households were threatened with homelessness between October and December 2022, with 27 being handed Section 21 eviction notices.

This is down from 49 'no fault' eviction notices in the three months previously, while 42 were handed out between April and June, and 45 between January and March 2022.

While tenants can contest a Section 21 eviction and take the matter through the courts, the figures show that 11 properties were repossessed through 'accelerated possession orders' in the year to March 2023.

High repossession claims in social housing

Torus' Gorsuch House on Carillon Way in the town centre (Image: St Helens Star)

In addition to the section 21 notices, which are predominantly associated with private landlords, it has also been reported that St Helens had one of the highest rates of repossession claims in social housing from October to December 2022.

With social housing in St Helens mainly operated by Torus and Riverside, the figures showed that 75 claims were made to evict tenants in the three-month period, with 164 repossession claims made against social housing tenants throughout the entire year.

Tenants were able to contest these repossession claims and not all of the claims resulted in evictions. Torus and Riverside emphasised that such claims are always a "last resort" after customers have consistently failed to engage or pay rent on time.

St Helens Council response

The council operate a number of initiatives to prevent homelessness (Image: St Helens Council)

Aware of the mental and physical health impacts that homelessness can have, St Helens Council said it "works tirelessly" to reduce the number of people living on the streets.

This is through a mixture of schemes such as early intervention teams, support networks, rough sleeper initiatives, and temporary accommodation.

Councillor Richard McCauley, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Housing, said: “While there can be many reasons for homelessness, in our borough Section 21 notices are one of the main reasons that people may find themselves without somewhere to live. 

“From the financial impact through to health and wellbeing toll it can take out from the stress prospective homelessness can bring. 

“Our approach is to focus on prevention with a Homelessness Repossessions Officer actively supporting tenants facing this situation.

"Meanwhile our small Homelessness Early Intervention & Prevention Team also work with people at the very early stages to try and find solutions quickly to find new homes.

"We have also expanded our statutory homelessness service and working with registered providers to avoid evictions where possible. 

“Last year a Complex Care Panel was created which brings together a range of agencies to help more complex individuals to tackle the causes that could lead to homelessness.  

“Through our Rough Sleeper Initiative we, alongside our partners, continue to provide support through a Rough Sleeper Social Worker, working as part of the homeless health partnership, and recruiting a Rough Sleeping Prevention Development Officer to help the successful work the initiative is doing to tackle rough sleeping. 

“In the last two years 40 new accommodation options have been funded through the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme, supported by the council’s two existing homeless-supported housing schemes in the borough.”