Bailiff evictions are to be suspended during the Christmas and New Year festivities, courts across England have begun announcing.

Although the exact dates vary from area to area, they are all approximately from the middle of next month until the first week of January.

This will ask bailiffs not to execute evictions warrants during this period, a request that is usually distributed by their official trade organisations.

This means a more informal version of last year’s Covid evictions freeze announced by housing minister Chris Pincher looks set to be rolled-out by civil courts, giving many letting agents and landlords a small window of opportunity to remove tenants in arrears or who are involved in anti-social behaviour.

But paperwork from several courts sent out last week also suggest that ‘pressing cases’ may be fast-tracked by individual courts prior to the bailiff evictions amnesty deadline.

Christmas

“It is never nice to evict a tenant at the best of times but especially over Christmas,” says Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action.

“This amnesty is only for a month and I’m sure that landlords whether they are affected or not would expect such an amnesty during a period of the year when good cheer and kindness are to the fore – and in the wake of the Covid pandemic.”

As last year, it is expected that Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will follow suit and implement similar Xmas amnesties.

This year’s announcement in England has been rolled out informally through the courts, although officially the normal procedure is for the Lord Chancellor to inform the High Court Enforcements Officers Association which then informs its members.

The courts close anyway between 24th December and 4th January this/next year.