1,300 veterans put at risk of homelessness due to a no-fault eviction since Conservative government pledged to ban them

15 Mar 2024

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

1,333 veterans have been put at risk of homelessness due to a Section 21 eviction since the Conservatives pledged to ban them in 2019 - almost one every single day
The number of veterans who were at risk of homelessness because of Section 21 eviction notices has increased by 57% on 2019’s figure of 222, reaching 350 last year
More than 13,000 veterans have been put at risk of homelessness since 2018, with 2023’s number of 2,354 representing a 42% increase on 2018’s 1,655
Lib Dem Housing spokesperson, Helen Morgan, will use her Spring Conference Keynote speech to call on the government to keep their promise and bring forward a Section 21 ban without delay

1,333 armed forces veterans have been put at risk of homelessness due to no-fault evictions since the Conservatives pledged to ban them in 2019, Liberal Democrat Freedom of Information requests to Local Authorities have revealed.

The FOIs also revealed a shocking spike in the number of veterans being put at risk of homelessness due to no-fault evictions, known as Section 21 notices. In 2019, 222 were put at risk of homelessness due to a Section 21 but last year that number reached 350, a 57% increase.

The number of veterans being put at risk of homelessness generally has also spiked considerably. In 2018, 1,655 veterans were put at risk of homelessness. In 2023, there was a 42% increase on that figure, with 2,354 veterans finding themselves in that horrible situation.

One of the worst performing areas was the Local Authority of Plymouth, a part of which is covered by the constituency of outspoken Veterans Affairs Minister Johnny Mercer. It has seen 48 veterans put at risk of homelessness due to Section 21s since the Conservative 2019 pledge. Since 2018, 186 veterans in the local authority have been at risk of homelessness, with the rate at which it has been happening in that area spiking considerably, from 19 in 2018, to 49 last year.

Mercer has previously said that by the end of 2023 he did not “want to see a single involuntarily sleeping rough homeless veteran in this country”.

East Devon is another poor performing area for veterans homelessness. 112 have been put at risk due to a Section 21 notice since 2019, the year the Conservative Party pledged the ban, with 387 put at risk generally since 2018.

It comes as the government has come under increasing pressure from their backbench MPs to water down their Renters Reform Bill which would ban Section 21s.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to get the Renters Reform Bill passed and ensure that the Section 21 ban remains in it, with no watering down of the pledge. In her keynote address at the party’s Spring Conference, Lib Dem Housing spokesperson, Helen Morgan will call on the government to keep their promise to renters and protect veterans and those renting more widely by banning Section 21s.

Liberal Democrat Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson, Helen Morgan MP said:

“No one should be forced into the position where they could be made homeless through no fault of their own and face all the stresses and anxieties that come with that.

"It is an utter disgrace that thousands of veterans, who have given so much to this country, have been put in that situation and Rishi Sunak should hang his head in shame.

“This is set to be another broken Conservative party promise that is forcing unnecessary hardship onto people who have put their lives on the line for this country. It is beggars belief that, even now, Conservative MPs are obstructing this ban from being put in place and protecting our brave veterans.

“Johnny Mercer has said he wants to see no more veterans sleeping rough in this country. If that is the case, he needs to be banging on Michael Gove’s door every single day, demanding that he ignore those obstructing these reforms and ban Section 21 evictions without delay.

“Our veterans and those facing the hardship of being forced out of their home through no fault of their own have waited four long years for a ban. That is long enough. This Conservative government needs to get on with it and finally live up to its word.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

The data on Section 21s and veterans put at risk of homelessness can be found here.

First reported by the Mirror.