Official statistics indicate a rise in 'no-fault' evictions in the United Kingdom in the period leading up to the implementation of new renters' rights legislation. Ministry of Justice data reveals a 16 percent increase in landlord possession claims made under Section 21 eviction grounds between April and June, compared to the same period last year.
Section 21, often referred to as 'no-fault' evictions, allowed landlords to request tenants leave their property without needing to provide a specific reason. This practice was banned on May 1 with the introduction of the Renters' Rights Act. Under the new law, landlords must now demonstrate a legally recognized ground for eviction, such as rent arrears, anti-social behavior, or a genuine need to sell the property.
The 8,463 Section 21 cases recorded from April to June represent a 31 percent jump from the 6,472 cases logged between January and March. However, the numbers were comparable to periods in 2024, with 8,317 cases between April and June and 8,419 between July and September of that year.
One interpretation suggests that spiking mortgage rates in 2024 may have prompted some landlords to sell properties or evict tenants to re-evaluate rental income. Campaigners noted that while any Section 21 eviction is concerning, the number of last-minute evictions before the May 1 deadline was lower than some had anticipated. Clara Collingwood, director at the Renters' Reform Coalition, stated that many landlords still utilized Section 21 to evict tenants one final time before the ban.
Industry professionals had previously warned that the Renters' Rights Act could lead to landlords selling off properties and a subsequent reduction in the supply of rental homes. Research from Pepper Money in April suggested a potential decrease of up to 220,000 rental homes by the end of 2026. Savills estimated in May that 254,000 buy-to-let homes had been listed for sale in the 12 months prior to the end of March, averaging 697 properties daily.
Conversely, the supply of new rental properties has increased. Data from the letting agent membership body Propertymark indicates that new rental supply for the year to date is 17.4 percent higher than in 2025, with an increase of 108,300 properties, the highest level recorded in seven years. This rise is partly attributed to Build to Rent schemes, often managed by institutional investors.
Some experts propose that a sluggish property market may have contributed to lower-than-expected eviction numbers. With certain properties selling at a loss or facing difficulties in finding buyers, some landlords may opt to retain their properties and continue collecting rent. This is further influenced by a May 1st regulation imposing a mandatory 12-month ban on re-letting a property if a landlord serves a tenant with a notice to sell and then fails to find a buyer.
The broader trend indicates a gradual exit of small-scale landlords and a rise in corporate investors. Propertymark's analysis shows that over 834,000 homes have left the UK's private rented sector in the last decade. Savills reported a £79 billion decrease in the total value of the rental sector over the past three years, now valued at £1.47 trillion. Their analysis also indicated that homes are being sold out of the rental market at a significantly faster rate than they are being acquired by landlords. Between April 2021 and October 2024, 5.4 homes were sold from landlords to owner-occupiers for every one home purchased by landlords from owner-occupiers, a stark increase from the 1:1 ratio observed in 2021. During this period, an estimated 290,000 rental properties were sold by individual landlords, while the Build to Rent market added approximately 130,000 new rental homes.