Several more property repossession claims in Worksop and Retford made in lead up to Christmas

Housing charity Shelter said renters cannot wait any longer for government action – particularly on Section 21 no-fault evictions, which allow landlords to remove tenants without a reason – as more and more people are being forced from their homes.

Ministry of Justice data shows 37 claims to repossess property in Bassetlaw were lodged by mortgage lenders and landlords from October to December last year. Of the claims, 11 were for homes owned by mortgage-holders while the rest were to evict tenants. It means there were seven more claims in the latest quarter than over the same period in 2021, when 30 were submitted.

Despite this rise, there were still fewer bids to remove people from their homes than in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic – 42 claims were lodged between October and December that year.

Across England and Wales, nearly 23,600 possession claims were made in a bid to evict people from October-December 2022, up from 17,000 the same time the year before. However, it was still down from the period in 2019, when 31,700 claims were made.

Polly Neate, Shelter chief executive, said: “Every day we hear from desperate families served with no-fault eviction notices for daring to complain about poor conditions, or because their landlord wants to cash in on rising rents. The government has long promised it would scrap S21. It’s time it stopped stalling and changed the law.”

Fair deal for renters

In the final quarter of 2022, more than 1,900 households were evicted by bailiffs via Section 21 proceedings,more than double the790 from the same period in 2021.

The figures show in the latest period, tenants were evicted from their homes in Bassetlaw on two occasions, putting them among the 5,400 tenant evictions across England and Wales. Of them, one Bassetlaw eviction was carried out by court-ordered bailiffs as a result of S21 proceedings.

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesman said: “Ensuring a fair deal for renters remains a priority. We will deliver our commitment to abolish S21 ‘no-fault’ evictions as soon as we can, protecting 1.3 million families, and have provided £366m for councils to help prevent evictions and provide temporary accommodation.