The Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick announced on Twitter that the court suspension for private and social possession cases will be extended to the end of August. Further details are awaited. We anticipate a change to the notices and the issuing of new claims. there is likely to be a new pre-action protocol introduced for residential possession claims and an update to the existing practice direction. A pre-action protocol outlines the series of steps that must be taken before and potentially during any court proceedings. They aim to encourage landlords to work with tenants to resolve a dispute before going to court and we anticipate this pre-action protocol mimicking the protocol that is already in place for social landlords.
We are seeing some courts staying proceedings until the end of October in some cases. Many landlords are being told by tenants that because of Covid-19, they do not have to pay any rent. This is not the case. Whilst landlords are encouraged to be sympathetic, the ban on evictions is not a right for tenants who can pay, to refuse to pay their rent. Some of our landlord client’s rely on their rental income to survive and are being placed in exception hardship by some tenants’ blanket refusal to pay. We are working with many landlords in resolving their disagreements with tenants and have noticed a significant improvement in breaking deadlock in discussions. We are confident that engaging us in discussion with your tenant will significantly increase your chances of making a successful recovery of rent arrears and resolving any disagreements and saving you money in legal fees.
If you would like assistance in recovering rent arrears or agreeing a payment plan with your tenant, call us on 0161 637 8588 or email us at info@aminhaque.co.uk for a call back from one of our resolution specialists.
