WIREDGOV

Recently, the House of Lords approved amendments to the Deregulation Bill which aims to end retaliatory evictions.

Responding to the news chief executive of Citizens Advice Gillian Guy said:

"No renter should be evicted simply for complaining about bad conditions. This is a vital step towards ending retaliatory evictions, and we urge the Government to make sure that the Deregulation Bill becomes law before Parliament is dissolved at the end of March.

"This is positive news for people afraid to complain to their landlord about poor conditions in their home, but we know that retaliatory evictions aren’t the only problem faced by private sector renters.

"In the last year more than 80,000 people came to us suffering a problem with a privately rented home. People in the private rented sector are woefully under-protected, and our Settled and Safe campaign is calling for a better deal for renters."

In November Citizens Advice revealed that half of people coming to it for help about being evicted from their privately rented property, despite being up to date with their rent, have dependent children.

The national charity said that between July and September 2014 twenty per cent more people got advice about eviction for problems other than arrears compared with the same period in the previous year.

Citizens Advice

Notes to editors:

1. The Citizens Advice service comprises a network of local bureaux, all of which are independent charities, the Citizens Advice consumer service and national charity Citizens Advice. Together we help people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers. For more see the Citizens Advice website.

2. The advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent, confidential, and impartial, and available to everyone regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age or nationality.

3. To find your local bureau in England and Wales, visit citizensadvice.org.uk. You can also get advice online at adviceguide.org.uk

4. You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06 or 03454 04 05 05 for Welsh language speakers

5. Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales advised 2.3 million clients on 5.4 million problems from October 2013 to September 2014. For full 2013/2014  service statistics see our quarterly publication Advice trends

6. Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 21,000 trained volunteers, working at over 3,000 service outlets across England and Wales.