Misery of families being evicted in Preston

They include at least 87 “no-fault evictions”, which the Government has pledged to abolish to prevent landlords removing tenants from their homes at short notice and without giving a specific reason.

Ministry of Justice data shows that 608 households in Preston City Council were evicted from their homes in the five years to March this year.

Of these, 87 were subject to a “accelerated possession” court order - used to remove tenants who have not left the property by the date set out in a section 21 notice, which can provide tenants with as little as eight weeks’ notice to leave once the fixed term in their tenancy agreement expires.

But because many cases do not make it to court, the number of "no-fault" evictions could be much higher.

In addition to the 87 accelerated repossessions in Preston, there were 63 evictions by private landlords, and 458 by social landlords.

Last month, Prime Minister Theresa May vowed to end "unfair evictions" to stop landlords being able to "unexpectedly evict families with only eight weeks’ notice".

Across England and Wales, almost 70,000 households were subject to an accelerated possession order in the five years to March this year.

Campaign group Generation Rent said the numbers being turfed out were significantly higher as the data only showed cases that had gone to court.

It added that a combination of rising rents, stagnant wages and declining welfare support had fuelled an increase in evictions in recent years.

Hannah Slater, from the group, said: “At the same time, analysis by Generation Rent shows that high house prices correlate with rising evictions, as buy-to-let landlords kick out tenants to cash in on their properties."

She added: “Section 21 is commonly used for revenge evictions when tenants ask for repairs, and has fuelled buy-to-let and driven up housing costs.”

She said the number of "no-fault" evictions could be much higher as the data only showed cases that made it to court, and "most renters simply leave when told to and their eviction isn't recorded anywhere".

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokeswoman said: “This government is committed to rebalancing the relationship between tenants and landlords to deliver a fairer, good quality and more affordable private rented sector.

“That’s why we are putting an end to ‘no-fault evictions’ by repealing Section 21 of the Housing Act, giving tenants greater security as part of our ongoing work to make a better system for both tenants and landlords.”