Sep

Evicting a rogue tenant during the pandemic ‘cost £35,000’ – claim

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The cost of the evictions moratorium for thousands of landlords during the pandemic have been laid bare.

Largely due to the loss of rent during the average 51-week, eviction costs when ejecting rogue tenants rose to £35,000 from £11,820 new research shows.

Letting agency Benham & Reeves says the costs and time required to remove an uncooperative tenant who refused to negotiate or communicate and who damaged the property were lengthened significantly by the temporary Covid eviction restrictions introduced by the government.

The company says this includes a 10-week delay caused by the disruption caused to the court system during the pandemic.

shocking

“The situation for landlords throughout the pandemic has been shocking and while eviction notice periods have now been reduced to four months, many continue to lose thousands in rental income every month due to rogue tenants and the long delays suffered while trying to evict them,” says Marc von Grunherr, a director of Benham & Reeves (pictured, below).

“We’re talking about professional crooks who have taken severe advantage of legislation designed to support those who are actually suffering financially and are in need of support.

“We had one particular case where a tenant moved into a new property at Television Centre [in Shepherds Bush, London) in October 2019 and only ever paid the first month’s rent and nothing thereafter.

“The eviction hearing was on 30th March this year and we couldn’t get a bailiff appointment until 25th August 2021. The poor owner suffered a loss of over £50,000 plus to add salt to the wounds the tenant stole all the landlord’s furniture.”

The research, which is based on average repair costs, rents and legal fees, reveals London to have the highest eviction costs during Covid (£45,574) and the North East the lowest (£30,290).

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