“Cruel” policy has plunged Merseyside families into misery and chaos

The Government has committed to introducing the Tenants’ Rights Bill which will ban ‘no-fault’ evictions under Section 21 for new and existing tenancies.

Over the last year, many families across Merseyside have been plunged into a state of misery and chaos after being forced to leave their homes. For many, the instrument of their anguish has been a “no-fault” Section 21 eviction which has been used to threaten around 500 private renters in England every day in 2024, according to housing charity Shelter .

On one street in Seaforth alone, four families and four separate households were evicted after receiving a Section 21 notice from the same landlord and private housing company. Section 21 is commonly referred to as a “no-fault” eviction notice and allows landlords to evict a tenant with two months’ notice, without having to give a reason.

Even though each of the households contained vulnerable residents who had created stable housing and raised families, they were powerless to stop the evictions and had to find alternative housing. When ECHO spoke to the families last March, they had just 53 days to find new accommodation and it was clear the evictions had caused deep distress.

Bill Mitchell, 65, received his eviction notice after living in the same house for 25 years with his wife Pamela, 63, and their son. Out the back window you can see a garden which he tends to every day and the rest of his time is spent caring for his wife and son, both of whom suffer from serious mental health and mental health issues. physical disabilities.

He said at the time: “My wife is in good condition. I burst into tears several times. I was talking to my sister about it and I just had a panic attack.”

Bill added: “We’re all scared to death. We’re petrified. We just don’t know what the future holds.”

Another resident of the street, Pat, moved there to help care for her daughter, who tragically lost a battle with cancer. Pat was raising and caring for her grandchild in her daughter’s former home, but received the same “no fault” eviction notice as the other three families. At the time, Pat broke down in tears when she recalled trying to explain the eviction to her grandson. She said: “I couldn’t say where we would go. I don’t want to raise a child in a hotel.”

Pat added: “The owner knows my daughter passed away, they know I take care of my grandchild. I told them the house holds a lot of memories. It’s where I have all my visions of my daughter’s last days.

“It’s cruel what they’re doing. They have no compassion.”

The third family the ECHO spoke to was Barry and Michelle who lived on the road with their two children. Barry said at the time: “We felt safe in the house, the children feel safe, but everything has been abandoned. through the window.”

Michelle described the impact on her mental health and said the stress was too much to bear. She added: “I feel like this situation is going to kill one of us. I’m having palpitations and panic attacks. I thought I was going to die last night.” Michelle said her daughter n kept saying “don’t cry mom, don’t cry mom” when the eviction notice came.

According to our information, at least two of these families have been rehoused since the eviction notices were served in March.

Three months after reporting on four families facing eviction on the same street, ECHO covered the story of a disabled mother of two who said she felt like a “prisoner” in a hotel she was kept in placed after being kicked out of her home. House. Jacqueline Henry and her two children were given just an hour to leave the house she and her family had lived in for a decade.

The family were then placed in temporary accommodation, Jacqueline said at the time: “I can’t park my scooter and I have to use a crutch, which is killing me. My son is autistic and we practically live on top of each other in the same room.

“There’s no kitchen so we have to spend money I don’t have on food, it’s killing me financially.” Because I can’t walk well, I’m a prisoner in the hotel.”

In November, one family spoke to the ECHO about the “upheaval” that a no-fault eviction represents and the pressure it puts on vulnerable people. Earlier this fall, a 64-year-old Orrell Park woman — who asked to remain anonymous — and her daughter received a notice from their landlord informing them that they had to vacate their home of eight years.

After a lengthy court battle, the mother and her daughter – who has learning difficulties – were asked to leave their home and had to find temporary accommodation in the city center through Liverpool City Council. The family spoke to the ECHO about the “massive impact” the no-fault eviction has had on their lives and said: ““My mother keeps breaking down.

“It’s been a very difficult process, we’re all mentally and physically exhausted. It’s had a huge impact on the family, I’ve had to take my mother’s dog.”

Responding to the case at the time, Orrell Park ward member Councilor Alan Gibbons said the family’s situation was evidence of “the worst housing crisis of my lifetime”. He added that the subsequent wait for rehousing was also a factor in the family’s anguish: “If my sense of stress and apprehension was acute, it is difficult to imagine what the family was feeling.”

The Government’s Tenants’ Rights Bill will ban “no-fault” Section 21 evictions for new and existing tenancies and allow tenants to challenge unfair rent increases and poor conditions. The hope is that the legislation will provide tenants with greater security and stability so they can stay in their homes longer.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Our Tenants’ Rights Bill will deliver on our promise to transform the sector and the rights of 11 million private renters across England, so people can put down roots and save for the future without fear of being evicted on a whim – including plans to end “no-fault” evictions for all existing and new tenants.

ECHO understands that the impact assessment of the Bill shows that greater tenancy security will benefit the wellbeing and health of tenants and provide educational benefits to children who will grow up with increased security in housing. best quality.

Daren Veidman, Sefton Town Councilor and cabinet member for housing and highways, said: “It was great to see the Government’s proposal to give tenants more security when it announced plans to ban no-fault expulsions.

“Having a place to call home is really important and having the threat of eviction hanging over you, through no fault of your own, is something that affects people in so many ways.

“We know there is a real need for affordable housing, right across the country, not just in Sefton. We have shown our commitment to this with the construction of our first social homes in many years, which will be ready to rent in the spring, and we plan to develop more in the future. »