Letting agents have once again called on the Government to establish a network of dedicated housing courts to process evictions and help speed up the currently arduous, expensive and slow system.

This follows Michael Gove’s comments over the weekend that banning no-fault evictions would happen before the General Election.

The Ministry of Justice and housing ministers has previously rejected calls for a separate housing court including by MPs and leading operators within the sector, including Landlord Action.

Evictions are currently handled by the nation’s overloaded and under-funded county and magistrate courts, where landlords can face, the Government last week revealed, an average six month wait to evict tenants, although in many cases this stretches to a year.

Pressure

But Propertymark, which is the trade group for letting agents, says a network of dedicated housing courts would relieve the pressure on county and magistrate courts

The organisation also says a dedicated court system would benefit tenants too, most of whom don’t bother to use the current system because it’s slow and expensive.

Propertymark says that if Gove is serious about banning Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions sooner than previously promised, it is keen to see sensible reform to Section 8 legislation – otherwise, there is a “real danger it may cause major issues with housing supply across the private rented sector”.

“Any changes to the current legislation must allow provision for landlords and tenants to be treated fairly and with respect and must strike a fair balance,” it adds.

Nathan Emerson (pictured) CEO at Propertymark adds. “The removal of Section 21 is a complex issue for which there needs to be full consideration of all involved.

“Failing to address the capacity of the courts could lead to substantially longer waiting periods for housing issues to be addressed.”

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