Renters fail in bid to stop council from making them homeless to house people already homeless

Renters’ legal bid to prevent a London council from evicting them to make way for homeless households has failed, leaving them facing homelessness.

A High Court judge dismissed an appeal following Lambeth Council’s decision to take back 163 council homes from across six council estates being rented out in the private rented sector.

The council argued that the homes, which were previously lost through the Right to Buy scheme and were let out at close to market rate as assured shorthold tenancies, are needed to house homeless families in urgent need of support.

But tenants have challenged the plans after receiving section 21 eviction notices last autumn, warning the action would make them homeless instead.

Councillor Danny Adilypour, Lambeth Council deputy leader for housing, investment and new homes, said: “Lambeth is on the front line of a national housing crisis, and we are doing everything we can to provide the most disadvantaged and vulnerable families in Lambeth with a safe, decent home.

“It is right that we are taking back former council homes that were lost through Right to Buy. We need to use these properties to provide safe, secure homes for our most vulnerable residents in urgent need of housing, rather than leaving them to be rented on the private market to those who have the means and resources to pay market rent.

“The number of homeless households supported by the council has increased by 50% in the last two years, and Lambeth is now providing temporary accommodation for over 4,700 homeless households every night. The cost of housing homeless families in overnight accommodation has risen to more than £100 million a year. This is why we have to use all of the properties available to us to support these homeless households and bring these costs down.”

One of the private tenants facing eviction applied for a judicial review to challenge the decision.

The claimant, represented by Public Interest Law Centre, argued that private renters being made homeless will now have to seek housing from the same council which is evicting them.

The case argued that Lambeth Council, not subsidiary HFL Living Ltd, is the tenants’ landlord.

Permission for a judicial review was refused in March. An appeal, heard on Tuesday (17 June), was also dismissed.

The council said more than 70% of the properties have been returned so far. That has seen 71 properties in the process of being let with 57 properties already relet to residents in unsuitable temporary accommodation.

Members of the Homes for Lambeth Tenants group said tenants who face homelessness as a result of the decision could end up relying on Lambeth Council for support.

She told the Big Issue: “How can Lambeth Council adequately protect its tenants’ interests when it is to argue on their behalf with… itself? 

“Councillor Danny Adilypour, who has been acting as the public face behind this decision, said himself that ‘this is a political decision’. It may be just that for unaffected councillor Danny, yet for Homes for Lambeth Tenants it is the difference between their families becoming homeless or not. It is the difference between falling into destitution or not.

“And that’s all it is – a decision. A choice. A choice that this Labour council is making right as the current Labour government is about to abolish this type of evictions (section 21). Lambeth Council is actively choosing to uproot dozens of families, disrupt their and their children’s lives, inflict harm upon their mental health, and socially cleanse its vulnerable residents out of the borough. It’s gentrification in its purest form. We can’t allow our communities to be fractured by it.”

Big Issue first covered the row back in June 2024 when one of the residents, Jules Zakolska, told us that the evictions – on estates earmarked for demolition – amounted to a “total upheaval” in her life.

Another member of the HFL Tenants group, former local Green Party councillor Peter Elliott told Big Issue affected residents would keep fighting the evictions.

“The fact that Lambeth Council is evicting its people from its own homes is just mind-blowing for me,” said Elliott.

“Out of the 163 original families, there are not that many that are left. Yet the council still decides to take them to court and most of the families that are left do have needs, they can’t just up sticks and leave.

“Many people have left so what’s left for Lambeth Council is really people who can’t go anywhere. They genuinely are making people homeless to house the homeless.”

Elliott was evicted from his own home on the Central Hill Estate and claimed that the property had been left empty for two years while he was left sofa surfing.

“We will be fighting all of those other ones in court, we have a good solidarity with the people that are left,” he added. “They are going to have to go through the court, every single one of them, because what they are doing is fundamentally wrong. They should not be making people homeless.

“You can’t stay in the area unless you have a pay rise of some description. They are the cheapest houses so you are effectively making people homeless.”

Read more:

• Young people quitting London over housing crisis: ‘Owning a home is a distant dream’
• I’ve been priced out of living in London – it shouldn’t take extraordinary luck just to live here
• Number of rough sleepers living long-term on London’s streets surges almost 40% in just a year

The issue has become an example of the difficult situation London Councils are facing to deal with the homelessness crisis.

Councils across London are paying an estimated £4m a day to cover temporary accommodation costs and are looking for ways to bring down the accommodation bills.

The row has also put the spotlight on long-running attempts to reform renters’ rights. The Labour-run council’s decision to send out section 21 eviction notices to evict tenants attracted criticism, particularly as the Labour government is set to ban them later this year.

Conservative MP David Simmonds cited the case in the House of Commons as MPs debated the Renters’ Rights Bill earlier this year. He claimed: “Even a Labour council – a bastion such as Lambeth, led by the Labour chair of London Councils – is rushing to use section 21 to evict its own tenants in advance of this bill because of the impact it will have.

“A Labour council and a Labour government are putting their own people out of their homes.”

Councillor Adilypour said the council will support households who end up facing homelessness under their plans.

He said: “We need to use these homes for those with the most urgent need for housing. Where a household in one of these homes on an assured shorthold tenancy is owed a housing duty, we will assess their needs and work with them to ensure their homelessness is relieved.”

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