The Government must raise its game and bolster the courts or its renters reforms will flounder, Propertymark warns.

The trade body has written to Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk urging him to take urgent action before Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions are banned.

The Renters Reform Bill will overturn Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, which allows no fault evictions.

Potential failure

Nathan Emerson, CEO at Propertymark, has laid out the potential consequences of failure to prepare the legal system for the introduction of renters reform measures.

Propertymark’s largest corporate members co-signed the letter, demonstrating the level of widespread concern about the capacity of the courts to appropriately handle possession cases.

At the moment, a third of all possession cases are Section 21 notices, which are ‘accelerated’ claims that bypass the court system.

More cases

The Renters Reform Bill plans to extend the grounds for possession under Section 8 instead, which will mean many more cases have to go through the courts.

Since the bill was published in May, landlords and letting agents have expressed fears that they could end up in limbo, uncertain how long they will be expected to wait for a hearing and possession of their property.

Not reassured

So far, the Government has not reassured Propertymark members that sufficient progress has been made to improve capacity in the court system and digitise the process.

“Before enacting any reforms, the Government must carefully balance the needs and rights of tenants with those of landlords to avoid seeing yet more homes being withdrawn from the market,” Propertymark says.

The current system does not provide a reliable route to justice for landlords.”

“The ability of landlords to access a swift, efficient, and cost-effective justice system is a key component of a successful lettings industry.

“However, the current system does not provide a reliable route to justice for landlords”, the trade body warns.