James Cleverly being forced out of his rented home in Essex by Labour's Renters' Right Act as his landlord decides to sell up instead

By SOPHIE CHURCH - POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 23:35, 23 April 2026 | Updated: 23:46, 23 April 2026 Sir James Cleverly is being evicted from his home by his landlord, who is selling up ahead of Labour's renters' rights reforms coming into force. The shadow housing secretary has been served notice to leave his home in his Braintree constituency in Essex after new rules granting greater protections for renters were written into law. Labour's Renters' Rights Act, which was passed in October, has abolished no-fault evictions – meaning landlords must now provide a legal justification to the courts if they wish to terminate a tenant's contract. To comply with legislation, championed by Angela Rayner, landlords must give tenants four months' notice to leave if they want to sell their property. Two months' notice was previously required. And landlords now face waiting months to secure a possession order from the courts – with homeowners waiting on average 27 weeks from claim to possession, according to Government data. The measures, which take effect from 1 May, also limit rent rises and give tenants greater rights to keep pets at properties. But landlords nationwide have been turfing tenants out as a direct result of the legislation coming in – with Sir James the latest casualty. Sir James Cleverly is being evicted from his home by his landlord, who is selling up ahead of Labour's renters' rights reforms coming into force Speaking to Inside Housing magazine, the Conservatives' housing secretary said experiences like his were being 'replicated thousands of times across the country'. While his landlord had not cited the Renters' Rights Act as a reason for evicting him, Sir James said the private rented sector is 'basically being regulated out of existence by this government'. And he later said his eviction was an 'entirely predictable outcome' which the Conservatives warned about during the passage of the bill. He added: 'This arrogant Labour Government didn't listen to the warnings from us or the sector. And now good landlords, like the one that I rent from, are selling up and leaving the market, leaving renters with fewer options and higher rates. 'It is completely counterproductive and Labour have hurt the very people they claimed they would help.' And the renters' union Acorn has noticed the problem worsening for renters – with no-fault evictions making up one in five of the reports they received from members in October, and rising to nearly one in three by January. This comes as the former cabinet minister, previously a landlord himself, told The House magazine he is considering running for London mayor. He said: 'The more you get involved with local government-related stuff, the more you get involved with housing, the more Labour's failures at a national level and in London are right in my face.' A Labour source said: 'Labour in government is putting things right and ending this unfair practice to protect renters from suddenly being thrown out of their home for no reason.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.