CAB wants letting laws changed

News Category: Legal

The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has called on the government to change letting laws in the country to prevent landlords carrying out retaliatory evictions.

A CAB report found that up to one million people in the UK living in rented accommodation are too scared to ask landlords for vital repair work because they fear they will be evicted if they do so.

In the report, the CAB argue that some unscrupulous landlords are using Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to end short-hold tenancy agreements without any just reason after tenants ask for repairs to be carried out.

Currently UK law allows this practice, but the CAB has urged the government to follow the example of a number of other countries and ban the tactic.

"Everyone should have the right to live in a safe and decent home, and a change in the law would end the misery endured by many vulnerable people who are too afraid to complain," explained CAB chief executive David Harker.

"No responsible landlord has anything to fear from what we are proposing."

The report's author, Debbie Crew, added that she wanted the government to put "restrictions on the use of Section 21" when "a tenant has recently exercised their statutory rights regarding disrepair or health and safety issues".