Mar

Breaking: Eviction proceedings are to be delayed by three months during crisis

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Tenants who are suffering financial difficulties and cannot pay their rent will be spared eviction proceedings under emergency legislation due to be enacted in parliament.

The government has revealed the full details of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement in parliament yesterday of plans to ‘ban evictions’ during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Instead of a complete ban,
landlords will have to wait three months before starting eviction proceedings
against a tenant if their financial difficulties are related to Coronavirus.

Late yesterday evening the
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government released a statement
saying that it would bring forward emergency legislation to introduce the
changes.

These will suspend new
evictions from social or private rented accommodation while ‘this national
emergency is taking place’ and that ‘no new possession proceedings through applications
to the court’ will start during the crisis.

Indicating how long the
government believes this crisis may last, the statement also says that: “Landlords will not
be able to start proceedings to evict tenants for at least a three-month period”.

It has also been announced that pre-action protocols, which are used within the social landlord sector within England and Wales to ensure that the necessary information is before a court at the first hearing, are to be strengthened and widened to include tenants within the private rented sector.

“This will support
the necessary engagement between landlords and tenants to resolve disputes and
landlords will have to reach out to tenants to understand the financial
position they are in,” the statement says.

Secretary
of State Robert Jenrick says: “The government is clear – no renter who has lost
income due to coronavirus will be forced out of their home.”

View Full Article: Breaking: Eviction proceedings are to be delayed by three months during crisis