New EVEN longer eviction court delays ‘unacceptable’ says Shamplina

As national average reaches nearly six months, Paul Shamplina says situation in London in particular is now becoming untenable for agents and landlords.

shamplina evictions

County Court delays for London landlords and agents evicting tenants are becoming ‘significantly’ longer, says specialist firm Landlord Action.

Its comments come as new official figures show that the median time taken to evict a tenant in England and Wales is now nearly six months at 24.5 weeks, up from 23 weeks last year, the new Ministry of Justice figures reveal.

Landlord Action says that at one processing hub, the Stratford Housing Centre, problems in sourcing bailiffs means that landlords who gain a warrant to evict now are being given eviction dates in mid-2025.

The centre processes evictions from eight different County Courts from Barnet to Willesden Green.

These problems stem from a critical shortage of County Court bailiffs, placing additional financial pressure on landlords already facing tenant arrears.

One severe case at Barnet saw a landlord seeking to enforce a warrant unable to find a bailiff to attend at all, leading to further delays after the already long court process.

Struggled

“Fortunately in some of our cases the tenants had by then left voluntarily but not in all cases. We have struggled to get updates from the court in Barnet,” says Paul Shamplina, the founder of Landlord Action.

“When our case handlers call, they’re routed through a central answering centre, with no direct access to the court itself. We believe this issue, left unaddressed, is likely to extend beyond Barnet and affect landlords across London.

“It’s clear that County Courts are facing a severe bailiff employment crisis, with only around 300 County Court bailiffs available across England and Wales.

Unacceptable

“This shortage is eroding landlords’ confidence in the legal system’s ability to help them regain possession.”
In one recent case at Clerkenwell County Court, Landlord Action applied for an eviction order in July 2023 only to be told they could expect an eviction date by January 2025.  “Waiting periods such as this are completely unacceptable.”

To mitigate these delays, Landlord Action is advising landlords to consider High Court (HC) enforcement as an alternative.But Shamplina warns that this option comes with additional fees, and the potential for County Court judges to deny HC enforcement requests unless landlords have first attempted County Court (CC) enforcement.

“While HC enforcement can offer a faster route to repossession, it’s not guaranteed,” adds Shamplina.

Worrying
Lucy Tiller

Lucy Tiller, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at the RRC, says: “The continued increase in evictions we’re seeing is really worrying – everyone should be able to feel secure in their home. The previous government promised to abolish section 21 evictions in 2019, and it is shocking that as Christmas approaches five years later, thousands of renters are still being forced out of their homes by no fault evictions.

“It is welcome that the forthcoming Renters’ Rights Bill will finally end Section 21 evictions, but that won’t put a stop to no fault evictions where a landlord wants to sell or move into the property. Being forced to leave your home through no fault of your own is a disruptive and expensive experience that pushes many renters into hardship and even homelessness.”

 


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