Millions in poor housing in England suffer ill-health due to legal delays, says Shelter

Millions of people living in damp and dilapidated homes are suffering worsening mental and physical health due to delays in implementing crucial legislative reforms, research has found.

A survey by homelessness charity Shelter found that around 40% of people in rented accommodation had experienced poor health in the past year as a result of their living conditions – equating to almost 3 million people in England.

Nearly two-thirds of renters in many parts of the country – around 4.4 million people – said their mental health has worsened since 2022 due to housing problems.

Campaigners are increasingly concerned that legal protections for tenants, which pass through Parliament, are being delayed due to opposition from Conservative MPs, one in five of whom are landlords.

Osama Bhutta, campaign director at Shelter, said: “It is shameful that England’s 11 million private renters are left at the mercy of a broken rental system, while politicians dither over whether to make rent fairer and safer.”

One of the most important protections in the tenants (reform) bill is a ban on so-called no-fault evictions, known as section 21 orders, where landlords can remove tenants without giving a reason.

Campaigners say section 21 orders are one of the biggest causes of homelessness and are used by unscrupulous landlords to punish tenants who request basic repairs.

The Conservatives first pledged to ban Section 21 evictions in April 2019, but did not introduce legislation until May 2023.

The bill was expected to have a second reading in the House of Commons in the spring, but this is not expected to happen until November, amid reports of growing opposition to the reforms among Tory MPs.

While the changes appear to be stuck in Westminster, official figures show that legal proceedings for no-fault evictions have reached their highest level in six years. Research shows that someone is deported without fault every three minutes, the equivalent of 543 per day and almost 595,000 since 2020.

A survey of more than 4,000 people in private rented homes in England found that delays in changes were causing rising ill health among those fearing eviction.

According to the YouGov survey commissioned by Shelter, more than 700,000 tenants in London, almost 40% of the total, suffer from mental or physical problems due to the fear of being evicted.

People with disabilities are disproportionately affected by deteriorating health, with half of all disabled renters saying they have become sicker due to concerns about their living conditions, compared to 29% in the rest of the renter population.

Dave Lockyer, 52, has been evicted from private rented apartments twice after section 21 orders, the first time leaving him homeless and couch surfing for three months.

A former civilian police officer, Lockyer’s disability means he has a limited ability to work and is dependent on benefits – which, he said, made finding somewhere to live almost impossible due to “discrimination against landlords and real estate agents”.

Lockyer, from Woking, Surrey, spent six months looking for a new home after being evicted without explanation in January. The stress was “incredible,” he said. ‘If I wasn’t so damn stubborn, I would have been at the bottom of a river years ago. I am mentally strong, but those six months broke me.”

He said being at the mercy of private landlords with one-year leases was like “having your life torn apart every twelve to eighteen months.”

He added: “It’s a constant cycle of wanting to take root, but it seems the system is completely set up to prevent that. It puts your life on hold indefinitely.”

The Shelter survey, carried out between July and August, also revealed the precarious financial situation faced by many of England’s eleven million renters.

Nearly half said they wouldn’t be able to afford where they live if their landlord raised the rent by 10%. This applied to almost two-thirds of the 1.8 million renters in London and around 60% in the South West, South East and North West of England.

Shelter’s Bhutta said the tenant reform bill would reduce homelessness – which hit a 25-year high earlier this year – and help hold landlords accountable.

He added: “The Government cannot allow this bill to be held hostage by a group of devious landlords while so many tenants continue to suffer. It is vital that it passes the Tenants Reform Bill and delivers on its promise to protect the millions of people who call private rental properties home.”

A Government spokesperson said: “The Government is absolutely committed to delivering a fairer private rental sector for tenants and landlords through the Tenants Reform Bill. The bill that delivers on our manifesto promises is being passed by Parliament and the second reading will follow shortly.”