The Government have extended the Tenant Eviction ban by a further four weeks, this means that no repossession proceedings will be heard before the Courts until 20 September 2020.
For those seeking to evict for any reason other than rent arrears, there is even more bad news. The current plan is to give priority to cases with anti-social behaviour problems, extreme rent arrears and those involving criminal activity. For landlords who may wish to recover their property to sell, you are likely to be bottom of the pile!
We would like to write something positive to finish off this update, but unfortunately we can only add to the problem by letting you know that landlords will now have to give tenants six months notice of leaving. Yes, six months.
For those already suffering problems but have yet to serve a notice, it will mean that your tenants will have effectively had 12 months security given to them, the six months since March 2020 and a further six months into March 2021; this does not include any period of Court proceedings, waiting for the bailiff appointment or other procedural steps.
We are keeping a close eye on the legislation and will keep you updated, but at the moment there seems to be little good news for landlords, especially for those who had hoped to sell to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday making their property more attractive.
