FEWER households were threatened with homelessness through no-fault evictions in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole last autumn than before the pandemic, new figures show.

Despite a recent pledge from the Government to scrap them, landlords are still able to evict tenants through a section 21 notice, which can provide tenants with as little as eight weeks’ notice to leave – sometimes without reason – once the fixed term in their tenancy agreement expires.

Data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities shows 75 households in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole were made homeless or put at risk of homelessness between October and December last year after being served with section 21 notices.

This was a decrease from the 83 households threatened with homelessness for the same reason in October to December 2019, before the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, across England, 5,260 households faced homelessness due to no-fault evictions in the last three months of 2021, a 37 per cent rise compared to 2019.

Alicia Kennedy, director of the housing campaign group Generation Rent, said a booming property market is to blame for an increase in evictions nationally.

"With house prices and rents surging, landlords have been cashing in by selling up or replacing their tenants with people who can afford to pay more.

"The cost of this upheaval is falling on the tenants themselves and stretched local authorities.”

She said the Government “must act” to provide a more stable rental market.

8,530 households in England were supported by councils last autumn because their landlord was evicting them to sell or re-let the property, including 84 households in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said it was bringing forward reforms to help renters, including ending no-fault evictions.