If you need to regain possession of your property now, it is suggested that you issue a Section 21 notice as soon as possible and then proceed with your claim for possession, should that prove necessary.
If you do go to court, it is advisable but not always easy to request permission from the court to transfer up your possession order to the High Court for enforcement under a writ of possession by a High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO) under Section 42 of the County Courts Act 1984.
The reasons for this is because it likely that the courts will see a significant increase in the number of possession claims raised and you may run out of time to have the order enforced by a County Court Bailiff, as in our experience of the county courts, many areas already have long delays for the enforcement of possession orders. An HCEO will be able to enforce the writ of possession far more quickly.
Key points of the Renters’ Rights Bill are as follows:
- Section 21, the “no fault” eviction notice, will no longer be available
- Tenancies will all become periodic, with each period being no more than a month
- Tenants can serve two months’ notice to end the tenancy at any time, including on day one
- Landlords, on the other hand, will need to serve tenants with four months’ notice (currently 8 weeks) and only after an initial 12-month period
- Restrictions on rent reviews and limiting in-tenancy rent increases to annual
- Strict controls on offers and rent bidding when marketing a property
- Ban on discriminating against tenants with children or on benefits
- The right to keep pets
- Introduction of the Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law to the private sector
- New grounds where the landlord needs to sell or move into the property – but only after the initial 12 months and with four months’ notice
- A new mandatory Ombudsman for all landlords
- A mandatory private rental sector database of landlords
In order to Gain possession under the Renters’ Rights Bill Landlords will need to be very diligent to ensure that they have dotted every “i” and crossed every “t” with every aspect of the tenancy, to avoid their claim being refused or delayed as a result, and follow every procedure and service of notice to the letter.
Under the Renters’ Rights Bill, landlords will need to use Section 8 which requires a cause for evicting tenants. Non-payment of rent may not, on its own, be sufficient cause. Anti-social behaviour might be used as the justification, but landlords will require substantial evidence, with the burden of proof being on the landlord.
In the case of non-payment of rent, the new bill will require 13 weeks of arrears before they can serve notice.
As is the case now, if the tenant pays off some of their arrears during that time, then the clock probably restarts for the landlord. Unless this is amended during its passage through Parliament, this could mean a tenant could pay a small amount of rent just before the 13 weeks are up to avoid ever being in the position where notice could be served, which is still the case at the moment but the arrears only have to be two months arrears or persistent late payment of arrears.
The need to show “robust grounds” for eviction is likely to mean that landlords will have to be quicker to bring possession proceedings. This will put a strain on the court system and result in delays.
This will also put additional pressure on County Court Bailiffs, many of whom are already experiencing lengthy delays with evictions. This will make the High Court enforcement option more attractive to many landlords. If possible it would be prudent to request permission to transfer their possession order to the High Court for enforcement under Section 42 of the County Courts Act 1984 to keep their options open for enforcing a possession order.
Whilst there is no getting away from the fact that landlords will need to wait longer and go through more steps to regain possession, they will still be able to pursue a tenant for arrears through the county court and once judgment is obtained take steps to enforce against the tenants using the existing enforcement methods.
Some Landlord groups are saying that they think this bill will have the effect of either making private landlords far more stringent in their tenancy checks and agreements or decide to stop letting to private tenants altogether. A scarcity of demand only increases rent, a situation which many parts of the country are already experiencing.
Landlords may start pursuing legal action more often or earlier, which will place an increased burden on the courts. The previous Conservative government had said in their Renters’ Reform Bill that increasing court capacity needed to be addressed before the legislation could come in, but this has not been addressed in the new Renters’ Rights Bill.
This new legislation might need some rethinking to avoid making renting more challenging and less affordable for tenants.
