Petition: End 'No Fault' Evictions in Wales

End ‘No Fault’ Evictions

At Shelter Cymru we believe that private tenants should have the security of knowing that they can’t be evicted for no reason.

To give them this security, we are calling on the Welsh Government to end ‘no fault’ evictions.

In Wales at least 42% of private tenants do not have a fixed term tenancy agreement, making them vulnerable to a ‘no fault’ eviction. If a tenant asks for repairs or makes a complaint, they risk annoying their landlord and getting evicted.

There is almost no legal defence against a ‘no fault’ eviction.

Once a notice has been served, tenants have two months to find a new home, or become homeless.

The situation is even more difficult for women, who, as our research shows, are more likely to be asked for ‘sex for rent’ and put up with poor conditions, for fear of revenge evictions.

We want to see private tenants in Wales given the same rights that other tenants in other parts of the world.

This won’t stop landlords getting the property back if they have a genuine reason – but it will give tenants the confidence that if they pay the rent and look after the place, they will have a home for as long as they need it.

In April, The First Minister announced that the Welsh Government will be legislating to ban ‘no fault’ evictions before 2021.

Read our briefing paper

Campaign Update

In April 2019, the First Minister announced that the Welsh Government will be legislating to ban no-fault evictions before 2021.

Since then, the Government has looked at this more closely and has come up with a revised proposal. They now want to ensure that when landlords give tenants a no-fault eviction notice, this will give tenants a much longer length of time – six months, increased from the current two months – before they need to move.

We think this is a step forward for tenants, but we will still be campaigning to end no-fault evictions completely.

We will never release your personal details to any organisation outside of Shelter Cymru for mailing or marketing purposes. By filling in this form you agree to be contacted by us via email with updates on this, and our other housing and homelessness campaigns.

Real stories

Amanda’s Story

Amanda and her two children were looking for a home to rent in Cardiff. They viewed a property belonging to a couple who were moving abroad. The couple had previously offered the property to their son to live in, but he didn’t want to because it was run down.

Amanda asked if she could redecorate and the couple said she could. She also asked for a longer term tenancy contract to give her family some stability and the couple consented to this, giving her a two year tenancy with a one year break clause.

The couple went overseas and for the next year Amanda invested considerable time and money in making the house a home for her and her children.

After a year had passed the couple got in touch and said they were coming back to Wales to visit and they wanted to carry out an inspection.

The couple were delighted with the improvements Amanda had made and were full of praise.

The following week, Amanda was served with a ‘no fault’ eviction notice.

The couple had activated the one year break clause because they were so pleased with the condition of the home that they had decided to give it to their son after all.

Despite being model tenants, Amanda and her two children had no choice but to leave the property that had become their family home. Amanda had to finance the move herself and was given no compensation.

Gloria’s Story

Our client, Gloria, moved into a rented property with her sister three years ago. Sadly, Gloria’s sister passed away in 2016, and Gloria became ill with breast cancer just a few months later.

She underwent chemotherapy throughout 2017 and even though her sick pay from work was only half of her usual wage, Gloria managed her rent payments very well. Gloria then received a phone call from her landlady, informing her that she wanted Gloria to move out in two months’ time and she was going to sell the property.

Gloria was due to have an operation for her cancer a week before Christmas, and the eviction date was for two weeks after this. Gloria explained to her landlady the situation and that she would find it difficult to find a new home and move so soon.

Three days later Gloria received the eviction notice in the post and had no choice but to move out. Gloria was physically, mentally and emotionally drained.

Ending these No Fault Evictions would not stop a landlord from selling the property and evicting a tenant, but would allow sufficient notice for circumstances like this, giving increased security for the hundreds of thousands of private tenants in Wales.

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Campaign success

We are delighted that together, Make Renting Right has already made a difference for renters in Wales.