The Labour government must take account of court delays before it abolishes Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, TV star Paul Shamplina (main picture) has warned.

Shamplina, who is MD of Landlord Action, says: “We run cases up and down the country and the delays have an impact.

“Getting a hearing date isn’t too bad, but the biggest problem is the administration of the courts – getting them to process applications for eviction enforcements and getting a bailiff eviction date.

“We have landlords crying down the phone to us to get their home back because of the financial strain,” he told the Daily Telegraph.

Pledged

Labour listed its Renters’ Rights Bill in the King’s Speech after winning the General Election, and pledged to ban Section 21 quickly.

But Shamplina warns that more landlords will sell up, which will mean rents go up even further and it will be harder to find a rental property.

If the landlord doesn’t think they will get their property back, then they aren’t going to rent it out.”

“If the landlord doesn’t think they will get their property back, then they aren’t going to rent it out. Currently, there are around 25 applicants to every property on the market.

“Landlords need to be incentivised to stay, but I have never known the confidence to be as low as it is now,” he says.

Easier evictions

Some rogue landlords will try to pass off tenancy agreements as licences in order to make it easier to evict renters, he predicts.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman told The Telegraph: “The Renters’ Rights Bill will be introduced in due course and we have committed to engaging with the sector, including landlords, as we bring forward these much needed changes to the sector.”