'It was a huge shock': Tenants threatened with eviction as landlords raise rent or sell

Laura Hayton, 46, a part-time public sector project manager and single mother from South Devon, had been renting out her home for six years when she was told in December that her rent increase by 20%.

"The landlord can't add up his sums so he has to raise the rent. They wanted an extra £225 a month, a absolute fortune," she says. "The real estate agent told me it's still 'fair rent' and they've all gone up here recently."

Hayton tried to negotiate a lower raise but instead I received an eviction notice in January.

“It was a huge shock, I was really upset and felt very unsafe For days this was all I could talk about I have two children they think this is their home The officer said the owner wanted to sell the house to be able to r buying a house in the Cotswolds.

"I haven't even been given three months to find a new place. I immediately started looking and found the market absolutely ridiculous, really competitive. I've talked to rental agents and they've been like, “Do you have any pets or kids? Yeah, well, the owners don't want kids.'"

Hayton called the council and was told she would have to move 20 miles away and lose a room to get property advice. "That would have meant I would be driving and wasting a lot of fuel, and having less time to work."

En In the end, she says, she got "very lucky" because she managed to get a new rental after seeing a neighbor move in and will be moving in a few weeks.

“The rent for the new place is 13% more than my old one. They did the affordability check and said I couldn't afford it, so I had to show them proof of savings to cover the shortfall. I'll spend my deposit to cover the rent, to make ends meet. It's a landlord's market because there are so few rental properties available. It's really awful.

Rental evictions have soared 98% in one year, according to official figures released earlier this month. Foreclosures by homeowners reached 5,409 between October 1 and December 31 last year – almost double the number in the same period in 2021 – according to Department of Justice figures for England and the Country of Wales. Research by homelessness charity Crisis in December suggested nearly a million low-income households across Britain feared eviction in the coming months. which reached levels not seen for more than a decade, after a period in which the Bank of England raised its key rate 10 times in a row to fight inflation. There are fears Britain's severe rental shortage is now being exacerbated by buy-to-let landlords opting to sell in the face of shrinking profit margins. Homeowners sold 35,000 more properties than they bought in 2022, according to a Hamptons analysis of Countrywide data, and many spoke to the Guardian about their decision to exit the market because the sums are not falling. are adding up more.

Dramatically higher mortgage rates have certainly slowed new investment in rentals, at a time when tenant demand is booming as people return in the towns they left during the Covid shutdowns. On top of that, the unaffordability of mortgages for potential first-time buyers means many are forced to rent longer.

Sean Wilkinson, a technician from Bristol, was one of the private tenants who contacted the Guardian to say they are being evicted because their landlords want to sell.

"We were told our landlord was selling our flat a few weeks ago. She gave us four months notice until we had to leave and also increased the rent by £100 for the last four months,” the 31-year-old says.

"She says she has to because she was hit hard by rising interest rates last year and can no longer pay the mortgage she has on this place. She owns several properties and has just sold another one. She just can't afford to continue owning."