Letting agents call on Government to fix ‘broken’ evictions system

Letting agents have called on the Government to take urgent action to fix the broken evictions system for those seeking to evict troublesome tenants.

In its response to the House of Commons justice committee’s inquiry into the county courts’ work, Propertymark calls out the ‘unacceptable’ delays in access to justice and suggests that technology should be used to improve the service.

Its commentary paints a troublesome picture including the time from claim to hearing continuing to rise and the average wait time for a warrant to be issued in a PRS possession claim still at 29 weeks, although in London this can sometimes be as high as 40 weeks.

Propertymark says the fees schedule needs to be digitalised to ensure swift action for justice and that paperwork does not hold up the process.

Contentious

The trade association says the Ministry of Justice needs to explore how it can prioritise the most contentious possession cases including those involving anti-social behaviour.

Propertymark suggests that landlords and agents should have the automatic right to a high court enforcement officer to prevent them from needing to apply for a writ of possession through the county court first, making the process much quicker.

Evictions

It also wants the Government to consider additional mandatory grounds for possession via a Section 8 notice to include: if the tenant is persistently late in paying rent, fails to provide access to the property for inspections by landlords or their agents, has acquired the property with false or incorrect information and is in breach of their tenancy agreement.

Timothy Douglas (main picture), Head of Policy and Campaigns, says: “We hope that through the work of the committee, the need for a dedicated housing court can form part of UK government thinking going forward and be the desired outcome for long-term reform and overall benefit to the sector.”