Landlords and letting agents who evict tenants through the courts must from this week onwards pay an additional £11 following the lastest update from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

These increases have introduced a range of extra costs for the private rented sector including raising the County Court fees for repossessions from £404 to £415.

The fee was previously £391 prior to being raised last year to £404 and before that in 2023 by 10%.

The increases were despite complaints at the time by leading property lawyer David Smith that the rises came despite ‘poor delivery standards’.

The latest higher fees come at a time when the overall bill for evicting a tenant has hit £3,000 on average, although costs can escalate to £19,000 depending on the nature of the repossession involved, according to one industry group.

Leasehold costs

The 80 increases, which have received parliamentary approval, include higher fees for repossessions in the High Court and Country Courts But it is fees relating to Property Tribunals which have seen the biggest hikes including those for a raft of leasehold administration change applications – which have almost doubled to £227.

Defending the rises, the MoJ says they are to “strengthen cost recovery, improve consistency in how and where fees are charged, and maintain fair access to justice for all” and to “account for inflation”.

Across the board covering all jurisdictions in total some 170 fees have been increased most by 2.6% – but 27 fees by an average of 34% in line with ‘accumulated inflation’. Four fees will be reduced to reflect reductions in their underlying costs.

See the full list of court costs rises.