Michael Thornton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michael Thornton on 2014-04-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent research his Department has undertaken on retaliatory evictions in the private rented sector.

Kris Hopkins

There is no hard evidence that retaliatory eviction is a widespread problem in the private rented sector and the English Housing Survey shows that only 9% of tenancies are ended by the landlord. However, we are aware that this is an issue for some people. We recently published a discussion document on property conditions which invited views on whether restrictions should be placed on issue of possession notices where a tenant has requested a repair. The closing date for replies was 28 March and we are now considering the responses.