The Renters’ Rights Bill has passed its third reading in parliament without there being action on reforming the courts, furthering concerns about the abolition of Section 21 evictions.
As it stands, it’s commonly taking landlords over six months to evict a tenant using the Section 8 route owing to the court backlog and the time it takes to appoint bailiffs.
In parliament housing minister Matthew Pennycook said: “Court readiness is essential to the successful operation of the new system.
“That is why my officials and I are working closely with the Minister for Courts and Legal Services and her team to ensure that the Courts and Tribunals Service is ready when the new tenancy system is brought into force.”
But Gary Scott, property dispute resolution partner with London law firm Spector Constant & Williams, is unhappy with the vague nature of such statements.
He said: “The committee stages of the passage of this bill has made clear that the government has no intention of properly resourcing the courts and tribunal to deal with the inevitable influx of claims and additionally required court time in dealing with disputes over rent increases and possession.
“The Minister said that the government would ‘continue to work with’ the courts and tribunals to ensure they have capacity, but refused to be drawn into a formal assessment of what increase in claims can be expected or a review as to how that increase will be dealt with and managed within the court or tribunal system.
“The Minister instead relied on the unevidenced assumption that tenants would only resort to tribunals or courts as a last resort, rather than to secure a negotiating advantage or a delay in the implementation of a rent increase.
He added: “The reality for court users, especially in County Courts in London and busy regional courts, is that the court is already struggling to deal with its existing workload, with applications and correspondence taking around 20 weeks to deal with.
“Possession claims can take more than four or five months to get a possession order. A year or more can have passed without a landlord receiving rent before a non-paying tenant is evicted.
“Adding to that workload burden without funding modernisation or increasing capacity is inviting significant problems ahead.”