There has been more misery for buy-to-let landlords struggling to regain control of their properties, after the HM Courts and Tribunals Service temporarily suspended the work of bailiffs on safety grounds.
An incident is under investigation, and it is believed that the situation will not change until all bailiffs have bespoke, personal protective equipment, and this a major problem for private landlords with problematic tenants, requiring the County Court to sanction appointment of a bailiff.
While no landlord wants to see a bailiff injured in the course of their work, the move is a bitter blow for many landlords who have already been struggling for months to regain control of their properties via clogged legal means.
LegalforLandlords, which specialises in helping landlords with legal and tenancy matters, has been recording the scale of the problem, which appears to be particularly acute in London.
Courts affected include Central London, Croydon, Brentford and Wandsworth, although Sim Sekhon, LegalforLandlords MD, believes there may well be others.
“These are the cases we know about because our clients are directly affected. We can’t overstate the misery this is causing,” he explained.
According to Sekhon, there are currently 80 cases awaiting bailiff appointments – the majority in London – with four cases where existing bailiff appointments have been cancelled.
The only real alternative for landlords seeking possession of a property at the moment is to apply to the High Court, according to Sekhon. But doing so is a lot more costly and there are no guarantees that the judge will appoint a High Court Enforcement Officer.
“It’s a terrible situation,” he added. It’s causing real problems and we have no idea how long it may persist. Once again, landlords’ needs are being ignored.”
It does make me wonder if this is being used by the courts [government] to delay evictions. An incident is under investigation… How long does it take, and why should it affect totally unconnected evictions?
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
PPE for the Bailiffs is important, no doubt about it. And potentially for those of us who accompany the Bailiff to the appointment, especially if it is a camera to record what happens. But rather than a blanket ban, can it not just be “Bailiffs cannot go out until they have this equipment”? So if 50% have it, then those 50% can go out, and then as soon as a Bailiff is issued their equipment they can attend appointments?
We need to know which Courts are stopping Bailiff evictions, as if it is just London then that’s not going to have as much impact on those outside, but if it is all Courts and Bailiffs then we need to know.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
I have met several bailiffs over time. They already wear protective armour, equivalent (ish) to a police officer. I wonder what on earth could have happened…?
I have noticed that some people have become much more aggressive and unpleasant over the last few years. This doesn’t apply to everyone, but I have found that in general people are much more likely to fly off the handle and to do so much more quickly than before.
I am sure that being evicted is awful. It’s never happened to me, but I have been an agent on hand for a bailiff to hand the keys to once the eviction has been carried out.
Some tenants had already left but trashed the property. Some went quietly. Some cried all the time. Some threatened violence. Once even, we had a gun waved in our faces. We ran away very fast and didn’t find out until much later that it was a non-functional but very realistic replica.
That was then, this is now and the problem is that you just have no idea what has happened to the tenant to get them to the point where an eviction is necessary.
I appreciate that by this stage the landlords may be thousands or even tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket, but the last thing I would want on my conscience is to know that someone was in hospital or worse because they went unprotected.
The investigation should be carried out swiftly and measures put in place promptly.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
I once attended an eviction that no-one was there for, but that there were still some items of furniture. The Bailiff checked the property through, we got the locks changed and I stuck up the usual ‘locks changed, contact office within 14 days to arrange to get your stuff or it’ll be binned’ notice and off I went.
Next day a furious bloke barges into the office demanding to know who went and ‘stole’ his property? My oh-so-supportive manager faded into the background, so little 21 year old me steps up and informs him I attended with the Bailiff and locksmith, as per all of the documentation. He was adamant that the three of us got the date wrong as it wasn’t supposed to be until that day we went and he hadn’t had time to clear his stuff out and he was going to call the police to have me arrested for breaking and entering. I told him to go ahead, I had documentation to back me up and found it unlikely that out of 4 people notified when to attend, three of us individually got the day and time wrong but co-incidentally arrived at the same date and time. But as he was here, I would be happy to arrange for an hour long slot for someone to attend and give him access to remove his belongings, as per the notice. Shockingly, I refused his request to give him the keys, and arranged for my spineless worm of a manager to meet him as there was no way I was going to go out alone for an hour with a man who had already been threatening and intimidating!
I somehow became the go-to person for evictions after that…
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Two words that stick out to me here: “swiftly” & “promptly”. Wishing thinking I am afraid.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register