x
By using this website, you agree to our use of cookies to enhance your experience.
Graham Awards

TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

New eviction court procedures to address Covid backlog

The government has outlined new court procedures to address the expected backlog of cases when eviction proceedings resume on August 24.

For all applications made before August 3, the landlord or agent must notify both the court and defendant in writing that they wish to continue the case.

Without this reactivation notice cases started prior to August 3 will not resume.  

Advertisement

Secondly, the landlord or agent should ascertain whether the tenant is shielding or is in some other way vulnerable to Coronavirus.

The landlord or agent must also itemise arrears in writing, ideally as part of the reactivation notice, if this is relevant to the eviction.

Finally the court officers are to have greater leeway over the timetable for proceedings to ensure social distancing and other safety measures can be ensured.

These processes will be in place until March 28 with an earlier review if circumstances change. 

The National Residential Landlords Association has analysed the proposals and say there are two outstanding issues to be resolved.

“Although landlords will be required to provide any information they have about their tenant’s experience of coronavirus, there is no indication of how the courts will use the information” says the NRLA.

“Also there is no detail about how, or in what form a reactivation notice should be served. The NRLA is working to answer both of these points with the ministries of justice and housing respectively.”

Full details of the new procedures can be found here.

Generation Rent, the charity led by campaigning former-Labour Baroness Alicia Kennedy, has accused the government of having “snuck out its plans” over the weekend. 

She says: “Clearly, the government doesn’t understand how scared renters are about losing their homes. As it stands, these rules alone will not help the vast majority of renters who are at risk of losing their home, and judges will not have the powers to prevent Section 21 no fault evictions or Section 8 evictions for rent arrears built up during the pandemic.

"Over half a million households are behind on rent, and urgently need reassurance that they will not lose their home due to the economic shock of Coronavirus, as the government promised in March. The government must use the final days of parliament to legislate to ensure that no home is at risk."

  • icon

    Nothing other than trapdoors for the landlord. That and it’s doing the Court’s donkey-work by spoon-feeding the Judge a get-out if we confirm they’re vulnerable. If it’s a S.21, unless they change the law, the Judge has no jurisdiction, so Covid is immaterial to mandatory rulings (hence the trapdoors to throw cases out).

    icon

    yes, i agree

     
  • icon

    Landlords are suffering due to rent arrears and Govt. is not supporting the landlords. I have lost £20k in rent arrears and i can't evict the tenants. Tenants are living for free and they know they can't be evicted. Three months mortgage holiday from Govt. is not enough. Govt should pay the rent arrears to landlords.

    icon
    • 20 July 2020 18:00 PM

    If they have not paid....Then it's off to the courts we go. Hi Ho, Hi Ho....

    I don't care how long it takes, but I will chase then form here to hell for what they owe....

    Including Hight Court Bailiffs to speed up the eviction by at least 4 months, and CCJ's for now and forever more and for as many reissues are needed for life.

    The good thing is I can afford the High Court Bailiffs, and as many CCJs as necessary for as long as the renewals take.

    Bring it on, and be prepared to have to pay at sometime, you low life crooks, feckless thieves....and low life.

    It will serve you right. And my kind of justice will prevail. For sure.

     
  • icon
    • 20 July 2020 18:11 PM

    Quite simply if there are rent arrears after August 24th any tenant in rent arrears should be removed by Police if still in 2 months of arrears.

    Feckless tenants have had more than enough time to garner resources to pay rent arrears.

icon

Please login to comment

MovePal MovePal MovePal
sign up