THE council is to review a key piece of housing legislation to see if more protection can be given to private tenants.

Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 allows a private landlord to evict their tenant without having to establish fault on the part of the tenant.

Sedgemoor District Council voted on Wednesday afternoon (March 20) to undertake a review of this legislation after concerns were raised by the Labour opposition group.

The review will be carried out following the local elections in May, with a report coming back to the full council later in the year.

Councillor Mick Lerry, leader of the Labour group, introduced a motion to the full council in Bridgwater following an investigation by the BBC’s Panorama programme on Fergus Wilson, a private landlord who runs more than 300 properties in Kent.

Mr Lerry said the threat of a Section 21 notice made private renters in Sedgemoor “insecure”, and claimed the number of people sleeping rough across the south west had risen by 17 per cent in recent years.

He added: “Since 1988 and even now, there is a great deal more reliance on private rented accommodation. House prices have really outstripped wage growth, especially in the south west, and homelessness is rising.

“A home isn’t a want – it’s a need. Many people will find themselves renting a home in the private sector but they could be very vulnerable.”

The 1988 act was amended in 1996 to demand that such a notice had to be given in writing.

Mr Lerry’s original motion had called on the council to lobby the government for Section 21 to be abolished.

But he clarified in the full council meeting that he had changed his request to a review by the council ahead of any demand on central government.

He said: “There are plenty of good private landlords, but there is abuse as well – people who turn people out and make them homeless. Let’s just review Section 21 again – let’s look at that again.

“We want to actually make sure that renting is more secure for people. We want to improve standards in accommodation.

“We’ve had people who have asked for work to be done on their rented properties and have found themselves served with a Section 21 notice.”

Council leader Duncan McGinty warned that removing Section 21 outright, rather than replacing it with something better, could have an undesirable impact on the private housing market.

He said: “I fully share the concern and principles behind this motion and would absolutely support moves that provide greater security for tenants in all sectors.

“However, I do feel that while it may be a positive move to revisit Section 21 of the Housing Act, I am concerned that without a viable replacement in some form, and full understanding of that replacement, we may not resolve the fundamental issue of ensuring people have homes with an acceptable level of security of tenure.

“There do seem to be concerns that the removal of that section of the act could have a detrimental impact on supply in the private sector.”

Mr McGinty agreed with Mr Lerry that landlords “come in all shapes and sizes, some are good and some less so”, and admitted the 1988 act arguably offered too much protection for landlords.

But he warned that ditching Section 21 could lead to smaller-scale landlords dropping out of the rental market.

He said: “The statistics show that there are many many small-scale landlords with just one or two properties.

“If the law changes with the simple abolition of Section 21, we may well see many of these leave the sector if they are concerned that they will not be able to release their asset when needed, and therefore supply will be diminished when we know need is great.

“If that were to happen there is a very real risk that we become more reliant on the less reputable landlords for private sector provision.

“I would support the aims of the motion but feel more work is needed to produce an alternative that this council could positively and confidently support.”

The council voted to support the motion, with the review being undertaken by its community scrutiny committee and a report expected to come back to the full council later in the year.