Housing Court Reform

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures currently show an average wait time of 60 weeks for a landlord to gain possession of their properties. Prior to the pandemic this figure was closer to 20 weeks. A large portion of the 60 week timeframe is attributed to the increased notice period applied during the pandemic.

When you remove the notice period and begin the timeframe at the claim point, the average time to repossession shows more as 21.1 weeks according to Propertymark. 

The backlog of cases and slow process is making it difficult for county courts, with April to June this year seeing courts process 7000 claims, 5431 orders, 3709 warrants and 1516 repossessions. 

When you compare those numbers to the same quarter of 2019 year you will see a decrease of 73-80%, this is primarily due to the courts having to adapt to social distancing systems through online hearings and the limitations created by social distancing court houses. 

As restrictions have been lifted there should be a stronger movement forward through the case load, but the last year has created a lack of faith in the system for many landlords. A collection of estate agents through Propertymark have called for a reform of the law and a dedicated housing court. 

That lack of faith can be confirmed through the MoJ report, revealing that landlords prefer to use a Section 21 notice over a Section 8 as it is the faster and generally cost effective route to possession, an option that will soon be abolished by the government. This low confidence in the system is compounded by debt recovery methods being restricted, pushing landlords to aim for possession and absorbing the debt in favour of regaining possession.

Through an upgrade to the process for landlords and potential rental debt relief for tenants by government schemes, the property sector could come out stronger than before the pandemic.