According to CIH: Citizen’s Advice Bureau said it has seen a 38% increase in arrear-free tenants being threatened with eviction, with 5,000 cases in 2013/14, up from 3,750 the year before. The Bureau said landlords are trying to remove tenants because they want to cash in on rising property prices and sell the home. Landlords are also accused of hiking rents to unaffordable levels, or evicting tenants who ask for repairs. Eviction by private landlords is the most common cause of homelessness for CAB clients, causing one in 10 of the 80,000 problems with homelessness which Citizens Advice Bureau saw in the last year. Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: ‘Tenants are being treated as cash cows as a chronic housing shortage pushes up prices and forces renters out of their homes. ‘Competition for properties means that tenants are easy to replace, increasing insecurity for people trying to create a home in the private rented sector.’
A growing number of private sector tenants are facing eviction despite being up to date with rent, a charity has revealed.