I’ve been evicted for no reason – it ended my relationship and I’m homeless

Moving in with my partner, in June 2024, felt like one of the most life-affirming decisions I’d ever made. No one had ever wanted to commit to me in any serious way before.

Despite the fact that, at the time, my portion of the rent used up over half of my paycheck – I was paying £900 a month to live in a three-bedroom house with him, while earning £25,000 annually – it still felt like the right thing to do. 

In March 2025, we realised our living situation wasn’t sustainable, and decided to find a long-term let within our joint budget – just under £1,300 per month. By May, we found our cozy, two-bedroom “sanctuary” for £1,290 in Bristol.

Of course, we knew renting wasn’t truly long-term – but we had to live in an expensive city centre for our jobs, and it was all we could afford at the time. In an ideal world, we were hoping to stay for three-to-four years.  

Nearly a year into our tenancy, my (now-ex) partner and I were busy turning our rented flat into a home. Since arriving in Bristol, just over three years ago, I’d never seen out more than a year in rented accommodation and I finally felt ready to settle. 

Although probably quite dreary to the outside world, conversations about new furniture shopping and planned decor for the flat filled me with hope. I felt secure in my living space and my relationship – for the first time in my adult life. 

In January this year, my luck started to turn. Our letting agent began informing us that different estate agents would be in-and-out of the flat every few days; just to take some photos and have a look around. We were never given a reason – just a time, date and an expectation to be okay with it. 

It gave me a sinking feeling. I knew Labour’s “no-fault” eviction ban was due to come into effect in May, and a few of my friends had been issued with Section 21 letters – an eviction notice – already.

The ban is set to ensure that people aren’t unfairly evicted from their rental properties after years of people facing short notices from landlords to leave their homes.

It didn’t require a genius to put two and two together and figure out my landlord was looking to sell the property. 

My partner and I went on holiday to Rovaniemi, Finland, on February 4. The day after we came back, we were looped into an email from our letting agent, “kindly” giving us a heads-up in advance that the landlord was, as predicted, looking to sell our flat – and we had until May 18 to pack our lives up and leave. Shortly afterwards, on March 5, we were officially issued with a Section 21. 

I felt silly for grieving a space that was never really mine, but there was also something about the stigma of being issued an eviction letter which made me feel fundamentally wrong. It felt shameful, even though, by nature, we hadn’t done anything to warrant it.

We’d been perfect tenants – quickly reporting any breaks or faults (though rare), always paid our rent on time and tried to maintain a good, communicative relationship with our letting agent. 

There’s something incredibly impersonal about receiving an eviction letter, too. You realise, as a tenant, no matter your hopes and plans for the future; it’s never really in your hands. Landlords don’t care about you wanting to turn their house into a home – and they’ll leave you in the lurch as soon as you no longer make business sense to them. 

It’s enough to put a strain on any relationship – particularly one with an earnings gap as wide as mine and my partner’s. As a journalist who took the risky dive into self-employment, my partner had become the temporary breadwinner until I was back on my feet. I’m lucky if I crack £1,000 a month at the moment, while he’s on £50,000-a-year. 

The eviction affected his mental health, too. Looking at the hidden costs – a new deposit, higher rent and bills – it was going to cost us at least £4,000 collectively to move. He realised he didn’t have the capacity to take care of himself and pay for both of us, and decided to let me know a few weeks ago. 

The housing stress, and the wage gap between us, were the main factors that caused the relationship to break down.

While he was envisioning a new life, I was left with the prospect of homelessness at 27. The shocking thing is, I’m not even the first among my friends to go through it. Since being issued with the notice, the stress has made me physically sick on more than one occasion. 

I’ve now been left to cover the final rent payment of £1,290 alone. I’ve been in touch with universal credit and hope they can help.

Unfortunately, my immediate family are in Cambridgeshire so I cannot stay with them and whilst several kind friends have offered a place to stay, I doubt I’d be able to for weeks on end.

The “no-fault” eviction ban, when it’s brought in on May 1, will be a welcome change – but we can’t ignore the casualties left in its wake. Landlords are panic evicting with less than two months to go, but the real human cost of this is homelessness, illness and breakdowns in relationships.

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