A newly-elected Southwark councillor is being kicked out of her home because of a dispute between her landlord and their letting agents.
Cllr Chloe Tomlinson, who was elected to represent the Rye Lane ward in May, and her housemates are being evicted after Foxtons slapped the woman who owns her Peckham home with a whopping £7,488 fee just to change estate agents.
Instead of paying this fee, on June 30 the landlord simply served her tenants a Section 21 notice – under which the tenants typically have two months to move out. Councillors have to live in the local authority area that they represent.
Foxtons said this fee was in the contract the landlord signed and that it did not make her evict Cllr Tomlinson and her housemates. The landlord did not respond to a request for comment.
Cllr Tomlinson, a primary school teacher in her day job, said: “Facing eviction is extremely distressing. Nobody wants to be forced out of their home.
“Foxtons’ behaviour is completely heartless – they could choose to waive the fee and we could remain in our home. Instead they are trying to profit from our situation and they don’t care if we get made homeless as a result. It’s pure greed from one of London’s largest letting agents who are once again treating private renters as cannon fodder as they scramble for profit.”
“All this brings home the precarity and instability of life as a private renter. I’ve lived in over eight private-rented homes since I first moved to London as a teacher in 2014. There is never any stability or security. How are young people and private renters like me supposed to plan our lives, work in our communities, and participate in our local democracies, when we can so easily be forced out of our homes and boroughs?”
It came after the landlord first gave Cllr Tomlinson and her housemates a huge rent increase of thirteen per cent, coming to an extra £100 per month each. Cllr Tomlinson said they had accepted the rent increase despite being worried about how they would afford it – only to be told they were being evicted a few weeks later.
Both she and her local MP Harriet Harman, appealed to Foxtons to waive the fee to stop the eviction, but had no success.
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Generation Rent, a national organisation that aims to stop “unfair” evictions and represent renters’ rights, slammed Foxtons for the fee.
Dan Wilson Craw, Deputy Director, Generation Rent, said: “Cases like Cllr Tomlinson’s highlight how devastating Section 21 can be in the hands of unscrupulous operators, and underlines the importance of the Renters Reform Bill, which will stop evictions where the landlord has no legitimate ground.
“Renters cannot put down roots and contribute to their community if they can be kicked out by a letting agent out of sheer spite. We hope Foxtons sees sense and waives its extortionate fee to let Cllr Tomlinson and her housemates stay put.”
The Renters Reform Bill, which would ban evictions like this one, was outlined by the government in June after a long build-up. The bill still has to go through the long process of being voted through parliament before it becomes law. It is unclear if it would stop estate agents from charging massive fees, as in this case.
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A spokesperson for Foxtons said: “The contractual agreement between the landlord and Foxtons is a pre-arranged agreement. This was signed by the landlord, who was aware at the time that there would be a renewal fee. As stated in our terms and conditions: Renewal Commission will be due in respect of Renewals where the original tenant remains in occupation. Where there is more than one tenant, Renewal Commission will be payable in full where any or all of them remain in occupation.
“We did not advise the landlord to serve a section 21 notice, and we would never do so whilst negotiating a renewal, the landlord served this notice to the tenants herself. We have had multiple conversations with the landlord to try support a resolution and maintain the relationship with herself and the tenants but unfortunately we have been unable to find an amicable solution for them both.”