The huge backlog of eviction and other cases anticipated in the coming months will be helped by the creation of a series of so-called Nightingale Courts - the justice system’s version of the much-praised Nightingale Hospitals.
These are to be at Telford in Shropshire, Stevenage in Hertfordshire, Swansea, Leeds, Middlesbrough on Teesside, Chichester, Fleetwood in Lancashire, Peterborough, and London.
Most involve the conversion of former courts or buildings already being used for other purposes, to become modern court offices.
ARLA Propertymark says that while no specific uses have been set out for the Nightgale Courts, it is likely that they will assist in clearing the backlog of eviction cases.
The government has revealed other measures to help ease pressure on the court system, including opening courts for longer to increase the number of cases that can be heard safely, using video technology where appropriate, and a £140m-plus programme to rapidly modernise some existing court buildings.
The government has already 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 - that’s today - 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.
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 2021 with an earlier review if circumstances change.
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If it speeds up evictions...then multiple Hurrahs from me.
Even more so if it gets those feckless, stealing, robbing, destructive, filthy, cheating thieves out of those poor LLs houses who have had to endure such unacceptable behavior.
Unfortunately MSM and the usual suspects.....Shelter et al will whinge on about greedy LL and tenant victims.
It is actually the other way around!!
Greedy tenants not paying rent and expecting to get away with living for free.
Paul. today I came across my first greedy landlord. I hope it is another twenty years before I come across another one.
Have a look at their whinging to me on Twitter @GenRentBook
Talk about closed-mind and biased. !
I tried looking through their moans but gave up. They still have not grasped the fact that lanldord mortgage relief is not a holiday. IT STILL HAS TO BE PAID EVENTUALLY. Are they intellectually challenged or did they go to the Diane Abbott school of maths.
@lyndonbaker
Interesting concept a greedy LL.
At what point did you determine this LL was greedy.
My rents are £350 more than some rents near me.
I charge a market rent and it is paid.
If I charged too much it wouldn't be a market rent as nobody would pay it.
So at what point can a LL be said to be greedy.
After all my expenses I am left with zero profit even with higher rents than others.
Other LL may have lower costs than me and can afford to charge lower rents.
In essence there is no such thing as a greedy LL.
A rent of just 12 months and a high rent at that. was increased by over £250 pcm - a more than 21% rise in a year.
Rents should (must?) cover costs plus a rainy day fund. It is a business and must make a profit. Once my tenants are in I don't, so far, increase rents while the same tenants are in situ. Of course some landlords increase renats annually, but 21%? Even you, Paul. would find that a hard rise to justify.
While not all tenants are feckless, we must allow that some landlords are greedy!
I'm afraid that with SC increases and S24 rents have to rise.
Remember that rents represent not just costs.
They represent the value of that property and it's location.
So the rent could be far more than the LL costs.
Letting a property is all about maximising achievable rents.
Costs are almost irrelevant though of course rent should at least cover those.
This is why rents increase in 'gentrified' areas and rightly so.
Of course that is always resented by those already there.
But that is how areas go from cheap to expensive.
It is IRRELEVANT what percentage increase takes rents higher.
Another classic example is rents and costs have increased by HS2 stations.
I consider that a LL might be asking too much if unable to let.
Potentially that is a greedy LL.
But if rents charged are paid by tenants then no greed exists as it is a market rent that someone is prepared to pay.
I consider that BTL LL are unfairly competed against by unencumbered LL.
But of course that is simply the business game.
So I DON'T resent unencumbered LL.............I wish I was one!!!
But in the PRS there is naturally competition.
Some LL may choose to charge less than market rates
Their choice.
But with things going on as they are I can easily see rent controls being imposed.
Govt has seen how easy it is to control LL from evicting.
Nobody stood up for LL.
If Govt introduced rent controls there would be no support from the public for LL.
I would be bankrupted by rent controls which is why I intend to sell up.
Even though profitable things are hanging by what I consider are a very thin thread.
I know I would be far happier as. Lodger LL with one house.
Then I suppose my market rents would be whatever Spareroom indicates are room rates in relevant areas.
I know this CV19 thing has shocked me into realising how vulnerable I am.
With potentially even more bonkers Govt anti-LL policies I am not wishing to remain a leveraged AST LL.
I DON'T wish to compete anymore with LL who are able to offer cheaper rents than me.
So for me it is time to leave the AST PRS.
I'm actually finding the process all too boring.
I like the idea of FHL or a lodger LL.
I'm done with conventional lettings!
The level of market rent, is partly because of the Government, AND Local Authorities lack of House Building.
Don't anybody be thinking that Local Authorities care about providing Housing. Their Heavy funding into Commercial property to speculate for profit is no different a concept of Business than a Private landlord ( who doesn't have any Moral or other welfare obligations to provide housing that L.A.'s should have )
Of course with the Commercial sector taking a hit with the virus, L.A's are now running 'cap-in-hand' to the Govt ( Tax-payer, - yes, that's Tenants as well ) to bail out they're bad business planning.
Tenants groups should look at their local Authorities rather than a Private landlord who often is a key worker having been left an inheritance property that's helping to sustain their income and provide for their pension.
The attack on Landlords ( as if some 'Lords of the Manor' ) is misplaced and not helping tenants. There again, so-called Tenant support groups also have their own 'agenda'.
Tenants, - understand what's going on in society. When you do, you might realise that some landlords could be your only friend.
Oh, and we'd all like everything bigger, better and cheaper but we have to cut our cloth and live in the real world. Does your Tenant 'charity' Directors on 6 figure incomes live in your world ?
Perhaps Govt will finally accept that MASS UNCONTROLLED IMMIGRATION has ultimately resulted in a need for millions of social houses.
Govt seems to readily cast off it's ideology.
It would make economic sense to build millions of social houses.
Far better to train a workforce to produce something vitally needed than being paid to sit on their a###s all day doing nothing.
You could describe building millions of social houses as a giant job creation scheme.
But at least at the end of it there would be something of value for the nation that has been achieved.
There is simply NO way that the private housing developers will produce what is required.
It simply isn't worth their while.
Only Govt edict will produce the housing that is required.
It is all very well Boris saying Build build build etc.
But the workforce isn't there
A mass social housing programme would provide productive employment for the soon to be about 4 million unemployed.
We need to become a nation of builders not baristas and sandwich sellers.
Is it right I heard that Shelter Directors are taking a voluntary pay reduction after Covid and are using their £65 Million Annual budget to Re-train the unemployed as builders - tradesmen so that they can earn enough money to buy their own houses ?
The backlog of Court Cases in total is around 500,000.
Plenty of courts have empty courtrooms but no judges!
Many County Courts have Judges with a "family ticket" and those cases, understandably, take priority.
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