Disabled woman from Pontefract 'could end up homeless' after no-fault eviction

A disabled woman is facing the prospect of homelessness after her and her husband were served a so-called no-fault eviction.

Chris and Sandra Taylor, from Pontefract, claim their landlord refused to let them install stairlifts and ramps and then served them with a Section 21 notice asking them to leave.

Sandra's disability means she has been unable to leave the house for a year and she has been unable to go upstairs for six months.

What you should do if you are facing eviction from your home

Chris said: "The lack of showering is something that's really important. It's affecting her mental health.

"We spent four years rebuilding our lives after the stroke that nearly took Sandra. And to have to go through this now, the stress is just...she's a prisoner in her living room isn't she?"

Sandra Taylor could be left homeless due to the so-called no fault eviction

Chris and Sandra's case will be heard in court next month. Their landlord has so far not responded to requests for comment.

Chris said: "When it goes to court and if he gets a possession order, 14 days later we will have to move and we have nowhere to go to. It's awful. Absolutely awful. The uncertainty - you can be awake at night and obviously it's awful for Sandra.''

Meanwhile their MP says his inbox is filling up with similar cases. He tabled a motion in Parliament to get Section 21s banned - something the government has been planning since 2019.

Jon Trickett MP said: "We're getting roughly one a week - which is staggering really, families coming, sometimes with kids, they've been living in the house quite happy, suddenly they get one of these notices called Section 21, and suddenly they have to leave, usually within two months.

"It's brutal. It's not right, and the government has to get on with this. They say they will but it's been going on for too long now, it's time we saw some action.''

Hemsworth MP Jon Trickett says many of his consituents have been in touch about facing no fault evictions

The government said today that it will ban Section 21 orders soon in a new Renters Reform Bill.

But banning them would mean removing the option for landlords to evict disruptive tenants.

Ben Beadle from the National Residential Landlords Association said: "The benefits of Section 21 means those things can be dealt with very very quickly. It's really important that in whatever proposals the government brings forward - they are delivered upon."

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