The Generation Rent campaign group has entered the fray for the Police and Crime Commissioner elections which will be held in some parts of the UK next week.
The campaign group, led by Baroness Alicia Kennedy, says candidates for the PCC role in different localities should tackle illegal evictions.
The group claims two per cent of such evictions result in prosecution, while 98 per cent do not; it also claims the number of such evictions has risen during the pandemic.
It calculates this by using Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government figures of homelessness “caused by illegal eviction in England in 2019-20.” The campaign says the figure rose to 1,040 in that year from 810 the year before. It then selects Ministry of Justice figures which show 24 prosecutions for unlawful eviction per year between 2016 and 2019.
Generation Rent says that although local authorities and police officers have powers to stop illegal evictions and to prosecute offenders, “few councils have fully-funded tenancy relations officers to perform this role.”
It wants candidates standing for Police and Crime Commissioner in elections to pledge to improve training in eviction law, record all incidents involving tenants and landlords, and work closely with councils to prevent unlawful evictions “and bring criminal landlords to justice.” It’s also calling for more council funding to clamp down on such evictions.
Baroness Kennedy says: “Being evicted illegally, often with your belongings dumped on the street is devastating. We have legal protections for renters for a very good reason, but when the Police fail to enforce these and we end up with a tiny minority going to court, renters lose confidence in the law and criminal landlords act with impunity.
“May’s elections are an opportunity for police forces up and down the country to reset their attitudes to illegal eviction and make sure that everyone gets the protection they deserve.”
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How about the Police getting tough with Scum Bag Tenants?. Silly Woman.
Police don't seem much interested in crime these days, any tenant that is going to be evicted illegally is certainly going to be a scum bag type tenant, cannot see the police bothering.
Works both ways - so lets have police support when we have non paying tenants occupying our properties!
Don’t be silly…criminal tenants are a civil matter, right…?
Just being a landlord seems to be a criminal act these days, tenants can do nothing wrong!
I feel sorry for Baroness Alicia Kennedy, her attitude will make it even more difficult for benefit tenants to secure a tenancy. Unless of course the government make it illegal to ask for a guarantor, then it will not be difficult it will be impossible.
Tenants loose confidence in the Law! I have less and less confidence in the law as a landlord every time they use the law as a biased weapon to take my rights away.
Renting is massively One-sided, and these so-called tenant support groups are doing the majority of decent Tenants untold harm. Such groups are tantamount to campaigning for Tenant - Rental criminality.
Already Police take no action against tenants for a variety of Criminal offences.
Look at the Rogue landlord database, after 4 years its still in two figures, yet no Rogue Tenants list.
Landlords know the reason why, - because Criminal -career Tenants would have to be housed by local Government ( Councils ) and they don't want to pick up the problem tenants. - Just shunt them around amongst private landlords to share the financial burden - loss.
How many do any of those anti-private LL groups house ?.
How many does Baroness house ?.
Put your money where your mouth is and actually house some people or else don’t complain about us who provides accommodation for millions without any help from Government but they put every obstacle in our way. The Government wants to house millions that don’t contribute or false Claimants and place them in our property, then its not our fault is it, so why are we being continuously targeted.
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