Hove letting agent Property Plus closed for business for several hours last Saturday morning while community union ACORN demonstrated against a controversial no-fault eviction outside its Church Road office.
Before organising the demonstration, the union had approached the letting agent in an attempt to secure a withdrawal of the eviction notice, but were unsuccessful.
The eviction in question comes after a series of major complaints from a Property Plus tenant relating to the maintenance of his home. In response to this, the letting agent is pursuing a ‘Section 21 eviction’, which does not require any reason to be given for a notice to be issued.
The tenant’s maintenance issues involve an unsealed bay window and a dangerous level of smoke entering his flat.
Both these issues have had serious effects on the tenant’s health. He has been hospitalised three times in the past three weeks, and is currently unable to stay in the property for prolonged periods of time, despite continuing to pay rent.
At ACORN’s demonstration, the tenant described his situation:
I was forced to open all the windows to be able to breathe (because of the smoke) and then had to sleep inside two sleeping bags. I bought curtains, bubble wrap, and cling film. I tried everything to stay warm.
Chair of ACORN Brighton, Sam Dunnett said:
It is telling that Property Plus would rather close its doors for a morning than face being held accountable for its actions, which have left one of our members unable to live in his own flat and under threat of homelessness. We hope that the letting agent will open discussions with us to find a resolution to this urgent case.
Brighton Journal has contacted Property Plus for a comment, but the letting agent is yet to respond.
Research shows that the Section 21 legislation that facilitates no fault evictions is one of the biggest causes of homelessness in the UK. In April 2019, the then Prime Minister Theresa May announced that her government would ban Section 21 evictions. In December of the same year, Boris Johnson’s newly elected government reiterated these plans in its first Queen’s Speech, but there is as yet no evidence to suggest that steps are being taken to put these plans into action.
