Using Section 21 to evict a tenant is no longer the fastest way for a landlord needing to possess a property, an eviction specialist claims.
Landlord Action says that the Section 21 ‘accelerated’ process is increasingly challenging to use and not always quicker than other methods.
Ministry of Justice data shows there were almost 5,000 fewer Section 21 cases in 2017 than in 2016, down 14% at 29,611.
According to the MoJ, in October to December 2017, accelerated landlord possession cases, where there is no court hearing, took 7.3 weeks to progress from claim to order, compared with standard private landlord cases, where a hearing takes place to consider each side, which took 8.2 weeks.
However, once a landlord has an eviction order, they still need to obtain a possession warrant to legally complete the eviction and repossess the property with a county court bailiff. This seems to be taking longer.
From claim to possession warrant, accelerated and private landlord cases took 15.9 and 14.4 weeks respectively, and from claim to repossession by county court bailiff, accelerated cases took on average 23.1 weeks, while private landlords took 21.8 weeks.
Paul Shamplina, of Landlord Action, said: “In a number of recent cases, we’ve found that landlords have not provided tenants with an Energy Performance Certificate and a Gas Safety Certificate before the tenancy began, or they did not protect their tenant’s deposit, all of which are legal requirements in order to serve a Section 21 notice.
“By the time landlords come to us, the relationship with the tenant has usually broken down, making it harder to gain access to the property and deal with these issues, meaning the landlord can’t use a Section 21.
“The term ‘accelerated’ is not really an appropriate name for this procedure – as the statistics show, it is not actually quicker any more.
“Despite this, I predict we will see another rise in use of the accelerated possession procedure over the next couple of years as more landlords are forced to sell off properties off the back of rising interest rates and increased tax liabilities.”
The Government has been making S21 more and more difficult as it is less controversial than Corbyns want to ban them and introduce 1970’s rent control.
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Why does it take the Court so long?
The Landlord owns the property. They have provided the required paperwork and want THEIR property back to do what they want with. Tenant doesn’t move out at the end of the S21 timeframe? Court should send a letter out saying that they have one week to either find a property or prove that the notice is invalid as bailiffs will be at the property in 2 weeks.
And as for the S8 with 2 months rent owing…. If you have a car on hire purchase or similar and miss 2 payments, they turn up and take the car, sometimes with no warning. And I’m sure we have all seen the adverts where someone buys a car in good faith, to discover there is a loan on it and loses the car with no warning! I’m not saying it is the same, as people need time to find a property, but how come car companies can sort it so easily? Or banks with mortgages on them!
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It has been a broken wheel for years. Until they make it a criminal offence, tenants and supporters will milk the system to their advantage. In my area the court office takes on average 3 months to get a possession order with all the paperwork correct from day one. Why does it take so long, as the judge doesn’t even call a hearing in many cases, sitting in his chambers? (1) Look at the reaction by the court staff when you submit the papers!!! (2) The time it takes the court to serve papers, (3) Often Shelter use delaying tactics … everything needs to be documented in the post, back and forth only for them to throw the towel in, only on the day of the hearing.
It would be far easier for everyone if there was a central data base on tenants, but then we would be able to weed out the rougues far easier. The government doesn’t want that and has been using the private sector to provide shelter they can’t. Decades of their failings (all parties). They have now turned on the same people that has been bailing them out all this time.
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Do you live in a property from which you can be served 2 months notice to quit, regardless of whether you are a good or bad occupant? Does it strike you as fair that if a newly forming household is on an average wage they will have only the private sector as a likely choice for housing? That secure housing for the average person is being killed off by the existence of buy to let?
Would you swap your current position for that of your tenants, if you consider them to be so privileged and you to be so inconvenienced?
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