Evictions – how will courts manage when the ban is finally lifted?
In another sign of concern at the speed and volume of eviction cases once the ban is lifted at the end of next month, ARLA Propertymark has written to the Secretary of State for Justice expressing its worries.
In the letter, the association says that when the stay on possession claims expires on August 24 there will be a potential backlog of over 62,000 “business as usual” landlord possession claims to be processed across England and Wales, without even considering any claims for possession that may have arisen directly as a result of COVID-19.
It also suggests that – using average rent data from the government itself – if a landlord had issued a claim for possession on the day the stay on possessions came into force, by the time cases re-start, they would have incurred a loss of £4,149 purely due to the suspension.
“The average time from claim to possession by a County Court Bailiff is already 22.8 weeks for private landlords. This means the landlord who submitted a claim immediately before the stay on possessions will incur an average rental income loss of £8,549 due to these restrictions” the letter continues.
ARLA Propertymark urges the government to create what it calls “a robust strategy to manage the re-opening of the courts for landlord possession claims and to work with us and our members on an effective strategy to put in place.”
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