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Labour wants more eviction evidence after Wrongful Termination Order

The Scottish Labour Party has written to the SNP government of that country to demand more protection for private tenants.

Labour housing spokesperson Pauline McNeill wants the Holyrood government to pass new laws following the awarding of the first so-called Wrongful Termination Order earlier this month.

The WTO came about when a landlord provided a tenant with a Notice To Leave, stating the landlord and family wanted to move into and occupy the rental accommodation as their main home. However the property was then re-let to another tenant, prompting a court to issue the order.

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Labour claims that currently the standard of proof for evictions remains too low, leaving tenants vulnerable to eviction.

McNeill wants landlords to provide more substantial evidence to support their decision to terminate a tenancy; the party wants amendments to the emergency measures in place during the pandemic.

“We simply cannot have landlords evicting people on unfair grounds in the middle of a pandemic” she says.

“The time has come for the Scottish government to listen to the voices of tenants and act to keep them safe.”

In Scotland there is an eviction ban in Tier 3 and 4 areas until March 31 - the ban applies to sheriff officers’ enforcement, and there are exceptions as in England and Wales, applying to criminal or antisocial behaviour.

Longer term changes introduced by the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 and subsequent amendments mean tenants have more protection than previously, including no more fixed term tenancies, controls on rent increases, longer notice periods and a new (but not compulsory) model tenancy agreement. 

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    More evidence! The LL wanted to move from his 3 bed house into a 1 bed rental! What was needed here was more common sense! This eviction order should never have been upheld.

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    The landlord wanted to refurbish the property - probably damaged by the tenant he wanted out but couldn't end the tenancy for this reason. I bet the eviction was justified under common sense rules but rogue tenants are protected by the SNP and Labour in Scotland.

     
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    Are we hearing the whole story, why would the landlord want the tenant out if he's going to straight away re let it ? sounds like a problem tenant that he needed out to me.

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    Exactly.

     
    PossessionFriendUK PossessionFriend

    Nobody ever Reports the Landlords side !

     
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    Scottish landlords lost the right to recover their own property around 4 years ago yet this is the first conviction! Hardly a major problem needing even stronger enforcement!

    As we all know, good tenants don't get evicted but rogues can now prevent other decent tenants from getting decent homes even more easily than before.

    Loony leftie dogma always harms those it claims to protect and only protects the scum.

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    To play Devils advocate:

    Who says the LL family wasn't going through a break up? Therefore only one adult was moving out of the property and making it their primary residence. In the time it took for the tenant to leave and the renovation take place the LL family reconciled their difference and make a second go of things. Therfore, the property was re-let.

    This is just one hypothesis of what could have happened. I think we all jump to make connections not based on fact. We just need to remeber we are not given all the information.

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    Agreed and it wouldn't be the first time problems with tenants put a strain on landlords' family relationships and probably finances.

    It all goes back to the sensible conclusion that no landlord wants to replace a known good tenant with an unknown quantity, hence the tendency not to increase rents for good tenants, a feature that the lefties will destroy with rent control ambitions.

     
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