The COVID pandemic has seen many Residential Landlords stuck in the difficult position of not receiving rent from their tenants, yet unable to recover possession of their properties.
The ban against enforcing a Possession Order has been extended several times and the current extended date is 31 May 2021 – who knows if that date will be pushed back again.
So why should Landlords be taking action now?
This is why:
- The Notices that must be given to tenants before Possession claims can be filed with the Court were also extended by the Emergency Regulations and can be as long as 6 months.
- There is a huge backlog of cases in the Court system already and that has increased the delays between lodging the Possession claim with the Court and getting the Possession Hearing date. The longer it takes a Landlord to join the back of the queue the longer the wait to get the property back.
- The ban on enforcement is not absolute. There are certain categories where you can apply to the Court bailiffs to enforce the Possession Order
- Against trespassers i.e. the stereotypical squatter where the proceedings have been issued against “persons unknown” as their actual identity is not established
- Where you can show good evidence of your tenant involved in anti-social behaviour, nuisance, domestic violence or false statements
- On the death of the tenant and the property is unoccupied
- Where the rent arrears exceed 6 months
Contact our dispute resolution team for more info.
This reflects the law and market position at the date of publication Those categories may change as the legislation
