Letting Agents Call For Dedicated Housing Court

Letting agents have called on the government to create a dedicated Housing Court system within England and Wales to prevent a ‘catastrophic’ situation when ‘no fault’ Section 21 notice evictions are abolished. Agent trade body Propertymark has used the Law Commission’s latest reform proposal programme to call for a new system of dedicated courts, which would replace the current County Court system. It says the current system is in need of urgent reform because, even before Covid struck, the time taken from claim to repossession was getting longer and longer – reaching on average 21 weeks. Read more on the Negotiator website.

https://thenegotiator.co.uk/letting-agents-call-for-dedicated-housing-court-to-avoid-evictions-catastrophe/ 

Repossession Stats ‘Make Case For Housing Court’

The RLA says latest repossession stats reinforce the need for a dedicated housing court, with case waits now averaging 22.6 weeks. RLA policy director David Smith had called for a housing court to be an election pledge. Smith said: “Courts are failing both landlords and tenants. “A systematic programme of court closures, coupled with cuts to the court budgets have made it harder for anyone in the private rented sector to get justice in a timely way where something goes wrong,” said Smith. The government stats show landlords face a growing amount of time in getting judgment on repossession cases from the courts. Read more on the RLA website.

https://news.rla.org.uk/failing-courts-need-urgent-reform-argue-landlords/

Landlords Reveal Why They Use Section 21

Critics are calling for Section 21 evictions to be banned, arguing that they tilt the balance of power towards landlords. However, some landlords may leave the sector for fear they have no power over their own property. Of the landlords who responded to a survey, 73% said they have had to serve a Section 21 notice, with more than half (56%) using it because their tenant was in rent arrears. The Government has put forward a consultation on a proposed introduction of a specialist “Housing Court”. It believes this will provide greater access to justice for both landlords and tenants and give landlords confidence to offer longer, more secure tenancies by making it easier for responsible landlords to regain possession of their tenancy, should they need to.  Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/landlords-reveal-why-they-use-section-21.html