New Study Buries Revenge Eviction Claims

The overwhelming majority of landlords evict for good reasons, according to a new study by the Residential Landlords Association. In response to the recent claims of widespread retaliatory evictions in the private rented sector, where a landlord evicts a tenant for complaining or asking for repairs, the RLA have conducted a survey to determine the reasons why landlords evict tenants.

Out of the 1,760 landlords who took part in the survey, 56% had had to evict tenants from their properties. Close to nine in ten reported carrying out the evictions because of rent arrears. 43% did so due to anti-social behaviour, 40% for damage to the property, and 20% for drug-related activity.

Although nearly three in ten reported evicting tenants in order to gain possession of a property, this was largely due to personal reasons, such as needing to sell it. Far from wanting to evict tenants to get back at them for reporting damage to the property, many landlords reported wishing their tenants would report any work that needs to be done so that they can keep on top of repairs and maintainance.

The RLA are adamant that introducing new laws to make it harder to evict tenants would be counterproductive, as good landlords who evict only for legitimate reasons would be hit far harder than the minority of rogue landlords who don’t.

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