Mayor was handed her notice hours before law change
CARMARTHEN’S mayor claims she has effectively been made “homeless” after being served an eviction notice just hours before a new law was introduced giving greater protection to tenants of rented properties.
On November 30, Cllr Miriam Moules was served a Section 21 ‘no fault eviction’ notice from a letting agency on behalf of her landlord, informing that she and her husband Huw, had to leave their town centre home within two months.
Section 21s are known as ‘nofault’ evictions because landlords do not need to give a reason to ask tenants to leave. However, the law changed the next day on December 1, and ‘no-fault’ notices were extended to six months as part of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016.
It also means all those who now sign a contract on a property will have a minimum 12 months of security at the start of their tenancy.
The new law is intended to improve how homes in Wales are rented, managed, and lived in.
However, Wales’s people and homes charity, Shelter Cymru said the number of “no-fault” eviction cases they are dealing with soared over the past year, ahead of the law change deadline.
Cllr Moules and her husband, who are both job seekers on housing benefits and in receipt of Universal Credit, have lived in their home for 21 months on a rolling contract and said they are now faced with the upheaval of packing all their belongings and finding somewhere new to live within weeks.
However, Cllr Moules feels she has “fallen through the cracks” with being served an eviction notice just hours before the law changed.
She said: “There needed to be some overlap, some protection for those in existing contracts to avoid landlords being able to turf people out as the deadline approached on November 30.”
Cllr Moules said: “We have to be out by January 21, but there’s nowhere for us to go that we can afford on Universal Credit in Carmarthen, and we’re being expected to move in the depths of winter.
“At a time when things slow down and shut down over the Christmas period, it is going be very difficult for us.
“We are in talks with Carmarthenshire Council to see if they can help us find somewhere.
“I have to try and carry out my mayoral duties alongside having nowhere to live at the moment.
“One of the conditions of being mayor is that I live a certain distance from the town centre.”
Cllr Moules added: “I welcome the change in the legislation but how many people across Wales are now in the same position as I am, having been served evictions at the 11th hour before the greater protection came in for tenants?”
Shelter Cymru said in statement: “Shelter Cymru’s caseload has seen a 114% increase in ‘no fault’ Section 21 notices since last year.
“Private renters in Wales currently face a perfect storm, the existing housing supply emergency where social housing is like gold dust and ownership is a long way out of reach; the highest rent increase levels outside of London; and a further squeeze on budgets from rising utility bills and daily essentials such as food.
“Volatility in the private rental market, initiated in part by the Renting Homes Act, but also the attractiveness of other rental options, such as holiday lets, and growing concern about mortgage interest rates, have resulted in unprecedented rates of possession proceedings across Wales.
“We are constantly hearing the message of how difficult it is to find alternative homes, both for individual households and for local authorities seeking to assist them.
“The search for a new home becomes even harder when looking to find accommodation at local housing allowance rates.
“Between now and June next year, we fear the current no-fault epidemic may continue.”
Mid and West Wales Plaid Cymru MS Cefin Campbell, commenting on the situation facing tenants, said: “As winter approaches, thousands of people in Wales face housing uncertainty. It’s a crisis - but we have the ability to do something about it.
“Plaid Cymru has long called for rent to be frozen and evictions banned in a bid to halt people from becoming homeless over winter as a result of rapidly rising rents and wider uncertainty. However, in Wales, Labour joined the Tories to vote down a motion to prevent homelessness and protect the most vulnerable.
“To stand back and do nothing as this crisis unfolds is nothing short of a dereliction of duty, and Welsh Government needs to be doing more to support households at this challenging time.”
The Welsh Government was asked to comment on the issues raised.