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Lettings industry braces for end to evictions ban after Bank Holiday

Agents will be free to finalise evictions of tenants with rent arrears and also properties belonging to landlords seeking to sell up.

Nigel Lewis

evictions

The lettings industry is bracing itself for the end to the evictions on Bank Holiday Monday after which bailiff evictions will be able to proceed.

After 31st May the thousands of agents and their landlords who have been waiting for months and in some cases more than a year to evict tenants including those with rent arrears will now be able to proceed.

But given the requirement in most cases to provide 14 days’ notice of the enforcement of an eviction, evictions are not expected to resume until mid-June, except in the most ‘egregious cases’.

Despite this all other types of evictions including Section 8 and Section 21 notice evictions will also be able to proceed, the only worry being the considerable backlog of cases already in the system.

Paul Shamplina, Landlord Action, imagePaul Shamplina (pictured) of Landlord Action estimates there are some 20,000 outstanding possession order applications or bailiff warrants waiting to be actioned,

“Moving forward, in line with the wider roadmap, and alongside the roll out of the vaccination programme, there will be a transition from these emergency measures, as announced on 12 May,” a government statement said earlier this week, highlighting its renting sector reform proposals.

“We will begin tapering down longer notice periods and will lift restrictions on bailiff enforcement from 1 June, helping the sector to prepare for future reforms.”

Notice periods for new giving notice of new evictions after Monday are decreasing – from six months to four months.  Also, notice periods for cases where there is less than four months’ unpaid rent will reduce to two months’ notice from 1 August 2021 – which is the tapering that the government refers to. Normal service will be resumed after 1st October.

adair paxton guy roberts evictionsGuy Roberts, a director at Leeds estate agent, Adair Paxton, told The Negotiator: “The main benefit for our agency is the length of notice that a landlord has to serve to end a tenancy, is reducing from six months to four months.

“This is still longer than pre-coronavirus legislation which was two months. The main reason for us serving notice during the past year is not because of arrears or tenants getting into trouble, but because landlords want to sell their properties.

“Trying to balance a successful sale and manage a tenancy whilst providing six months’ notice is problematic.

“I expect some landlords will have held off serving six months’ notice and were waiting to be able to serve four months from 1st June but given the backlog in the system already I don’t expect much difference when things change next month.”

May 28, 2021

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