Conservatives have abandoned their pledge to ban no-fault evictions – leaving Lewisham’s 34,000 renters without the protection they were promised, Labour’s Will Cooper, Cabinet Member for Housing Management and Homelessness, said,  

“It’s now over five years since the Tories promised to scrap Section 21 no-fault evictions. Yet thousands of renters across Lewisham are still without protection, still vulnerable to eviction at any moment. This is a staggering betrayal of Lewisham renters. 

“Families in Lewisham need the protection they were promised – yet Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives seem too weak to stand up to the vested interests blocking reform. That leaves local renters with the threat of having their lives thrown upside down through no-fault evictions. 

“But Labour has a plan – our Renters’ Charter will give renters the certainty and protection they need.  

“It’s time to turn the page on years of Conservative failure, it’s time for change, it’s time to vote Labour.” 

Analysis from Lewisham Labour—based on figures published by the Ministry of Justice—reveals that 1,317 local families have faced proceedings to eject them from their homes in the years since the Tories promised to ban the practice in April 2019. This is part of an ever-growing number across the country, now approaching 90,000 households. 

‘No-fault evictions’, also known as Section 21 notices, allow landlords to order tenants to leave with a minimum of two months’ warning – without having to prove that the tenant is at fault. The figure is based on the number of no-fault eviction letters that have been followed up with a possession claim in the courts. The true scale of the problem could be far worse, as not all Section 21 notices will necessarily reach this stage. 

There are over 34,000 households privately renting in Lewisham—each and every one still vulnerable to no-fault evictions almost five years after the Conservative Government promised to stamp them out.