Big news for Landlords: Eviction ban will end in late August
The government has confirmed the eviction ban will end next month, with possession proceedings set to restart on 24th August. Read on for more information…
Lord Greenhalgh, a minister at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), confirmed possession proceedings will resume from 24th August in response to a written parliamentary question.
He said: “From 24 August 2020, the courts will begin to process possession cases again. This is an important step towards ending the lockdown and will protect landlords’ important right to regain their property.
In March, the government put a temporary three-month ban on evictions due to fear the impact of coronavirus could lead to individuals falling behind on their rent and becoming homeless. This ban was then extended until the end of August.
The move was designed to ensure that renters continue to have certainty and security during the Covid-19 pandemic. But with the government now easing lockdown measures, the aim is to transition out of these measures at the end of August to allow the market to operate while ensuring people have appropriate access to justice.
The vast majority of landlords have worked with vulnerable renters over the past few months, offering people invaluable security in these turbulent times, but most will welcome the end of the ban on evictions. While the tenant eviction ban has helped renters that are suffering financial difficulty, it has left landlords powerless to take action against renters committing domestic abuse or making the lives of fellow tenants or neighbours a misery.
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), said: “Extending the evictions ban is not without victims. It leaves landlords powerless to tackle the kind of behaviour that causes untold suffering and hardship for many communities and tenants alike. These cases must be given top priority by the courts and their processes enhanced to avoid further delay once they start to deal with possession cases.”
The government has said it plans to introduce a ‘pre-action protocol’ when proceedings resume, to encourage landlords to negotiate repayment plans with tenants before taking court action.
The ban on landlords evicting businesses currently ends in September.