Ask your MP to end unfair evictions

At the moment, most private renters are on short term contracts of six months or a year, and can be evicted once that term has ended without the landlord having to give a reason. These no-fault evictions, introduced under Section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act, are the leading cause of homelessness in England, leave tenants at risk of revenge evictions and cause anxiety and disruption for 11 million renters – including 1 in 4 families – who now rent privately. 

The government has promised to look at ways of improving security for renters, and consulted over the summer on plans to introduce three-year tenancies. The proposals were far from perfect, with lots of potential loopholes, but now news reports suggest that some within the Treasury and Number 10 want to make longer tenancies voluntary rather than give them to renters by default.  

We need to push to end Section 21 evictions altogether, but we also need to convince the government it needs to give renters more security if it wants our votes at the next election. You can make sure the government feels the heat by contacting your MP, let them know your feelings and, if they support renters’ rights, asking them to tell Theresa May to act.

We know that MPs remember constituents’ concerns best if they meet them face to face, so please ask for a meeting if you can (if you’d prefer simply to ask their views by email, that’s good too). To make things quick and easy, we’ve prepared a simple template which we encourage you to adapt. The text assumes that you are currently renting, so please change this if you're not. If you have time to add in your own experiences of renting, that will make the email more powerful. Are you a parent or an older person, have you been scared to complain about disrepair, have you had to move around a lot or do you simply feel worried that you might have to move home at short notice? Mentioning some of these details will help your MP understand your concerns.

Use the template below to email your MP. If you get a reply, please forward it to hannah@generationrent.org so we can keep track of MP support. And if your MP does offer you a meeting about this issue, do let us know and we can support you with information and useful points to make.

Please note that while only English MPs will be able to vote on this legislation, it's still worth contacting your MP if you're in a devolved nation as they can still write to the Prime Minister about this. If you're in Wales, Shelter Cymru has a petition asking the Welsh Assembly to improve renter security there: https://sheltercymru.org.uk/what-we-do/campaigns/end-no-fault-evictions/

Also, autocorrect is playing up for some people, so please check the signature line before hitting send!