Aug

BREAKING: Leaks suggest evictions ban to be extended by a month

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Sources from within the government have confirmed that it intends to extend the evictions ban by a month to September 20th in order to give parliament time to debate the issue after MPs return from recess on September 1st, and for ministers to form a plan.

This substantial U-turn has not been announced officially but sources within the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have indicated strongly that the suspension on possession claims is to be extended further.

“This is obviously very disappointing news as the suspension was due to end this Sunday on 23^rd August,” says Time Frome, Head of Legal of Landlord Action.

“A new process was set out whereby landlords were required to provide specific information to the court in a ‘reactivation notice’ which would then result in the matter proceeding either with a hearing (rent arrears case) or a judge deciding on the paperwork (s.21 case).

“We followed the reactivation notice process and asked all clients to provide us with the relevant information. Everything has been prepared and ready to be sent to the Courts on Monday, being the first day we could send the reactivation notices out.”

It now appears that the legislation which brought that process in has been replaced although it is not yet clear how this has been achieved at the 11th hour.

Full details of how the evictions ban will be extended have not been published yet, but at one point earlier today it had been hoped that some evictions would be allowed to progress – such as those involving anti-social behaviour and extreme rent arrears.

Timothy Douglas, Policy and Campaigns Manger, ARLA Propertymark comments on the ban on evictions: “The whole of the private rented sector has been impacted as a result of COVID-19 but we must recognise that the courts already faced a backlog of cases prior to the pandemic.

It is important to take steps back towards normality so that both landlords and tenants have access to the justice system, while putting measures in place to offer further support to tenants who have built up COVID-related arrears through no fault of their own.”

The decision comes just a few days after Northern Ireland announced it is to extend its ban for another three months.

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