Renters made homeless as ‘no-fault’ eviction ban nears

“We were really hoping that this was somewhere where we could really be long-term,” says Kristina.

- ALBERT TOTH

“Somewhere to recover and heal from what happened to us. But instead, here we go again.” The single mother of two has just received her second Section 21 eviction notice in less than two years. She and her boys must now say goodbye to another home by the end of February.

From May, landlords will be banned from using the controversial power under Labour's new Renters' Rights Act. Until then, they can still administer these "no-fault" notices to remove a tenant without reason at two months' notice.

"To be receiving one before Christmas as a single parent household, and to be telling your children 'I'm really sorry but there will be no presents this year'... it's so scary," says Kristina, from Muswell Hill, north London.

The creative freelancer lived in her previous property for 15 years before being issued a Section 21 notice. Her struggle to find a house left her and children – now aged 18 and 11 – homeless for seven months.

They were staying in temporary accommodation at a Travelodge before finding their current home, while her eldest was sitting his GCSE exams.

Another mother of two, Christina, from Hertfordshire, was issued a Section 21 notice in September. The 46-year-old, her partner and their children were given until the end of November to leave the house they have lived in for nine years.