Property company denies trying to mass-evict tenants before England’s no-fault evictions ban
A property company accused of trying to mass-evict tenants in the weeks before no-fault evictions are banned has denied doing so, saying it is simply implementing “routine and lawful tenancy management”.A statement from Criterion Capital, set up by the billionaire property magnate Asif Aziz, was issued in response to Matthew Pennycook, the housing minister, who wrote to the company to seek “urgent” answers about its plans.Criterion has reportedly sent section 21 notices, which give notice of proposed eviction, to large numbers of its tenants.At prime minister’s questions this month, the Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh said she knew of at least 130 such notices issued by Criterion at just one development, Britannia Point, in her south London constituency of Mitcham and Morden.In a letter to the directors of Criterion, seen by the Guardian, Pennycook said that if the company was seeking to remove tenants before the Renters’ Rights Act comes into force on 1 May, banning so-called no-fault evictions in England, it would be the actions of a “thoroughly unscrupulous landlord”.
But in statements to the Guardian, Criterion said it was the victim of “inaccurate and politicised narratives”.The company said it had issued 87 section 21 notices across its property portfolio, amounting to fewer than 5% of its total tenants.Criterion said it was wrong to present this as mass evictions, but was instead “routine and lawful tenancy management”.While section 21 notices are usually used as notice of eviction, the company said that because the actual eviction had to be enforced by a subsequent court order, serving the notices did not amount to eviction.More than a third of households who were sent section 21 notices had moved, Criterion said, adding: “These were tenant-led decisions and we have supported them – they were not evictions.
”It said: “Where tenants have expressed a wish to remain, we are actively engaging and agreeing renewed tenancy terms.The service of notice does not preclude continued occupation.”Asked whether tenants wishing to stay were being asked to pay increased rent or change their tenancies in other ways, Criterion said new tenancy terms did not necessarily mean this.Those who agreed new terms would be allowed to stay, it added.In his letter to Criterion, Pennycook said there would be “public concern and outrage at the notion that less than six weeks before private renters across the country benefit from new rights and protections, a large number of tenants may be at risk of a mass no-fault eviction in order that their homes can be re-let for the purposes of temporary accommodation”.
He added: “I would hope you would also agree that such behaviour, were it to be taking place, would be that of a thoroughly unscrupulous landlord of the kind that the act in question is designed to bear down on.”Pennycook asked Criterion to set out what sort of notices were issued, how many and why, saying the government wanted “a transparent account of precisely what action your company has taken in respect of periodic tenancies at Britannia Point and other buildings in south London”.He added: “I look forward to your response as a matter of the utmost urgency.”In their statement, Criterion accused politicians of “presenting demonstrably untrue claims causing unnecessary alarm to tenants for political visibility”.It added: “Tenants in private market-rent accommodation should not be used as cannon-fodder for political campaigning.
The repeated use of the term ‘mass eviction’ is inaccurate and irresponsible.”A series of publications, including the London Centric website, which broke the story about Criterion’s plans, have spoken to a number of tenants who said they were surprised and alarmed to receive what they understood to be eviction notices.According to the BBC, a local councillor has taken up the cases of more than 100 Criterion tenants in Britannia Point alone.The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods:The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories.
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Royal Mail owner pushes back against criticisms that service has declined
Daniel Křetínský, the Czech billionaire who bought Royal Mail’s parent company for £3.6bn last year, has insisted that service has not declined under his ownership, despite heavy criticism of late deliveries and price rises.In a defensive and sometimes impassioned performance in front of MPs on the business select committee, Křetínský said he was “deeply sorry” for any letters that arrive late.Since his takeover, Royal Mail has battled trade unions over working conditions, raised first-class stamp prices from £1.70 to £1
Crispin Odey: I can’t remember telling female employee ‘I could attack you now’
Facing a litany of questions over sexual harassment allegations that have left his career in tatters, the hedge fund tycoon Crispin Odey has told a court he does not remember cornering a female employee after a boozy lunch and saying to her “I could attack you now”.The 67-year-old made the comments during his first day in the witness box as part of a three-week court case that Odey hopes will overturn the City regulator’s decision to ban him from the UK’s financial services industry.Odey, who appeared in the London courtroom wearing a pink tie and braces, said that while he remembered the employee as an “attractive girl”, he did not recall the alleged incident, which lawyers for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said had been recorded in the employee’s diary.The entry referring to Odey, dated 24 January 2020, said: “Comes back from boozy lunch and corners me in the corridor. Him: I could attack you now
Baltimore sues Elon Musk’s AI company over Grok’s fake nude images
The mayor and city council of Baltimore, Maryland, filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s xAI company on Tuesday, alleging that its Grok chatbot violated consumer protections by generating nonconsensual sexualized images.Baltimore’s lawsuit argues that xAI deceptively marketed Grok as a general-purpose AI assistant and X as a mainstream social media site, failing to disclose the risks, limitations and exposure to harm that come with using the platform and chatbot. The suit, filed in the circuit court for Baltimore city, argues that the court has jurisdiction over xAI given that the company advertises and operates in Baltimore.“Grok has flooded the feeds of Baltimore’s X users with NCII (non-consensual intimate imagery) and CSAM (child sexual abuse material),” the city’s complaint states. “Grok further exposed Baltimore residents to the risk that any photograph they uploaded – of themselves or of their children – could be ingested by Grok and transformed into sexually degrading deepfakes without their knowledge or consent”
Protect men and boys from manosphere influencers, Labour MPs tell Ofcom
Men and boys need as much protection as women and girls from harmful influencers and “the worst parts of the internet”, a group of MPs have told Ofcom as they called for the regulator to give specific guidance to online platforms.More than 60 Labour MPs have written to the Ofcom chief executive, Melanie Dawes, urging her to protect men and boys from “manosphere” influencers who may expose them to gambling, sextortion and violent pornography.The Online Safety Act forced Ofcom to give tech platforms guidance on how to tackle “harmful content and activity that disproportionately affects women and girls”, but MPs argued that men and boys are also targeted in specific ways.According to the Gambling Commission, 53% of 11- to 17-year-old boys see gambling adverts online each week, compared with 31% of their female peers, while 91% of sextortion victims are male, according to the Internet Watch Foundation.Alistair Strathern, the MP for Hitchin and a co-chair of the Labour group for men and boys, said the Louis Theroux documentary Inside the Manosphere was “another reminder of a particular way some of the worst of the internet can prey on young men and boys”
World Cup-winning captain Johnson urges England to think about summer break for players
England’s legendary World Cup-winning captain Martin Johnson says the current management should consider resting key players this summer to boost the chances of history being repeated in Australia next year. Johnson was among several senior squad members who did not tour Argentina in the buildup to their 2003 global triumph and suggests a similar policy could assist England’s 2027 campaign.In 2002 England beat the Pumas 26‑18 in Buenos Aires with only eight of their subsequent World Cup-winning squad involved. Johnson is fully aware that post-game recovery and conditioning techniques have moved on significantly but believes the current captain, Maro Itoje, and others require careful handling if they are to prosper in 2027.“If it’s the right thing for a guy who’s just had a big Lions tour to have a summer off and not go on the trip, that’s just managing your player with the World Cup in mind,” said Johnson, who also led a British & Irish Lions squad to Australia in 2001
Ben Duckett pulls out of £200,000 IPL deal in bid to save England Test spot
Ben Duckett has pulled out of the upcoming Indian Premier League and now faces a three-year ban from the tournament after deciding he needs county cricket to shore up his place in England’s Test team.The opener was signed by Delhi Capitals at the IPL auction in December in a deal worth £200,000 and, with the competition starting on Saturday, he was due to miss the first two months of the English season.But a combination of a poor Ashes series – playing all five Tests in the 4-1 defeat for a highest score of 42 – and heavy travel after reserve duties at the recent T20 World Cup has convinced Duckett to turn out for the county champions Nottinghamshire instead.“It was a very difficult decision, and I want to apologise to everyone at Delhi that I won’t be coming,” Duckett told the Telegraph.“I’ve spent a lot of time away from home in different places, and it felt like the best thing for me to do to be ready to play for England is to be here right now, at home, refreshing my mind and body
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