When the Coronavirus lockdown began in March, the government introduced a ban on evicting tenants for an initial period of three months. The ban was intended to protect tenants who had suffered income loss as a result of the pandemic.
This initiative mirrored the payment holiday offered to mortgage payers for the same period, although critics felt that it was less fair since tenants were not given the opportunity of a rental payment holiday.
Tenant eviction ban extended
As the pandemic continued to bite, the ban on evictions was extended to August 23rd. It has now been extended by a further four weeks to September 20th.
That date in September is now the point at which landlords can take their case for eviction to court. However, even if the landlord wins the case, the tenant does not have to leave their home for six months. In practical terms, that means March 2021 at the earliest - unless they fall into one of the circumstances listed below.
New legislation, effective 29th August sets out notice periods for a number of different circumstances:
Where notice is served as a result of rent arrears or misleading information, six months notice is required. However if the arrears exceed six months rental payments, the notice period reduces to four weeks.
In cases of domestic abuse or riot, two weeks' notice will be sufficient.
Where landlords are seeking possession as a result of antisocial behaviour, four weeks' notice will be sufficient. Where tenants are required to vacate property as a result of failed follow up Right to Rent checks, 12 weeks notice will be required.
Prioritising claims for landlords suffering loss of income, anti-social behaviour or domestic abuse
When courts do begin hearing eviction cases, they are set to prioritise the claims of landlords who have suffered extreme loss of rental income or those who wish to evict tenants on the basis of ant-social or criminal behaviour or alleged domestic abuse.
Landlords’ position weakened
While the government’s actions provide a degree of protection for tenants, commentators believe that it is landlords who bear the brunt of the legislation. They have suffered loss of income since lockdown began and they have essentially been powerless to take action against difficult tenants.
The ban has effectively weakened landlords’ abilities to take swift legal action for eviction under Section 8 or Section 21 notices of possession or eviction. Before the government’s changes, landlords could apply to court under those notices and, if successful, could evict tenants within a short timeframe.
With a Section 21 notice, landlords did not have to give a reason for evicting tenants (though as we know, the government plans to prioritise banning the no-fault evictions post pandemic). If they were successful, tenants had to leave within two months. That timeframe applied to eviction notices served before March 26th.
In June, the government required landlords to provide evidence about tenants’ financial circumstances, particularly if it had been affected by the pandemic. The notice period was also extended, initially to three months and is now further extended to six months with effect from 30th September.
A Section 8 notice originally carried an even shorter notice period of two weeks, provided the landlord had a valid legal case for eviction. The notice period until 30th September is now three months.
Despite the changing legal situation and shift in the balance of power, feedback from landlords indicates that some have been able to negotiate temporary arrangements with tenants who have been willing and able to make reduced rental payments.
The Housing Department also reported that landlords had been supportive of tenants, with some eight percent offering to reduce rents through the crisis period.
This level of cooperation between landlord and tenant has eased the pressure to a small extent with figures from the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) indicating that the vast majority of tenants have been able to make some form of rental payment.
Although the government has so far been unwilling to consider any scheme to compensate them for loss of rental income caused by the Coronavirus, it has included buy-to-let landlords in the wider mortgage payment holiday scheme, providing some relief for hard-hit landlords.
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