‘Over the years we have heard of many shocking stories of landlords harassing their tenants’

• WE’RE pleased to see Camden Council and the police working together to take legal action against one of the borough’s criminal landlords, who was harassing his tenants and trying to illegally evict them, and we hope to see much more of this kind of enforcement activity, (Injunction bans private landlord from his property, August 5).

Sadly, with the section 21 “no-fault eviction” process available to private landlords, it is all too easy to get rid of their tenants legally, as the industry-standard Assured Shorthold Tenancies provide little in the way of security for private tenants.

Getting rid of “no-fault evictions” is one of the major reasons why we, alongside 19 other groups / organisations, recently came together to create the Renters’ Reform Coalition.

Over the years we have heard of many shocking stories of landlords harassing their tenants. Fortunately the days of landlords sending baseball bat-wielding heavies round to intimidate their tenants are largely gone.

Unfortunately this has now been replaced with a much subtler “psychological warfare”, whereby the landlords make their tenants’ lives a complete and utter misery by the constant use of emails, phone calls, text messages and even making contact via online messaging services such as WhatsApp.

This can be supplemen­ted by unannounced visits, and we’ve even heard of instances of male land­lords letting themselves into female tenants’ homes (both while they are in it and out of it).

This shows us the private rented sector is as much an expression of an unbalanced power relationship as it is of a dysfunctional housing system, and that’s why a return to “business as usual” in this fundamental area of life has to be avoided at all costs.

ROBERT TAYLOR
Camden Federation of Private Tenants