Whisper it quietly but the Generation Rent activist group says its latest survey shows that evictions have dropped in 2024.
It claims that one in six respondents had faced what it calls “an unwanted move” in the previous year, down from one in five in 2023.
Within this there was a drop in landlords using Section 21 or telling tenants to leave without a formal notice, with a rise in Section 8 (typically relating to rent arrears) and tenants moving out at the end of a fixed term.
But in a statement Generation Rent says: “Once the Renters’ Rights Bill becomes law, there will no longer be fixed terms, so tenants won’t feel pressure to move out or renew after a year.”
The group also claims its survey shows increasing numbers of renters facing a rent rise.
Details have only just been released but the survey was in fact conducted online between January and March 2024, had responses from 1,021 people who were renting in the private sector.
The group comments: “We have asked private renters if they have faced a rent rise in the past 12 months in our surveys since 2022, and asked for a breakdown of the reasons they were given. The number who have faced a rent rise has risen from 50% in late 2022 to 67% in early 2024.”
The most common reason given by landlords for a rent hike is “higher market rents”, affecting 20% of private renters. Cost of living has also increased as a reason that landlords give, as well as higher mortgage costs.
Although the dramatic rise in interest rates in 2022 was predicted to fuel rent rises, this appears to have affected only a small share of landlords compared with other factors.
The activists also say that the most dramatic trend since the pandemic has been the rise of bidding wars – where landlords or letting agents ask tenants to offer the most they can afford to secure a tenancy.
One in five renters who moved in 2023-24 experienced this, compared with one in 40 who last moved in 2019 or earlier.
Mass viewings have also increased significantly, while being asked for a guarantor is more common than before.
The group also states: “Intrusive practices like asking for CVs or photos were relatively common in the wake of the pandemic but appear to have declined more recently.”
This article is taken from Landlord Today