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14/7/25 8:13 pm
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A leading housing expert has called for the legislation covering illegal evictions to be overhauled following a new research by academics.
Dr Julie Rugg (main image, inset), from the University of York’s School for Business and Society, has made the comment following the publication of four reports highlighting the problems within the private rented sector caused by the small minority of repeat rogue landlords operating within it.
The research, funded by the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council and published by the University of York, in collaboration with the Universities of Northumbria and Sheffield and Safer Renting, a renter advocacy service, has reported on the four key areas facing those seeking to improve the sector.
These are a lack of enforcement, illegal eviction, landlord-perpetrated tenant abuse and criminality, although it doesn’t cover rogue tenants and the problems they cause.
Rugg, from the University of York’s School for Business and Society, says: “The deterrent for these crimes are so weak that criminality, such as rent-to-rent scams, slum rentals, cannabis farms, and money laundering have become embedded in the rental system.
But she particularly worried about illegal evictions, saying: “To come home one day, perhaps as a single parent, working shifts, to find the locks have been changed, is terrifying. Illegal eviction often robs victims of their home and all their belongings.
“Renters are told by the council and the police that it is ‘not their area’ to intervene. We have seen cases where the police have actually helped the landlord evict someone.
“The legislation that offers protection from illegal eviction dates from the 1970s, it is now time for a change.”
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