Update on Courts and Evictions during COVID-19
The Government's ban on evictions is due to be lifted this coming Monday, 21 September. When cases are heard again, these will be subject to new court processes and procedures, including:
- Cases will be prioritised – so those involving anti-social behaviour, other crimes and extreme rent arrears will be heard first
- No cases from before 3 August 2020 will immediately go to hearing, but will have to be ‘re-activated’ by the landlord and then subject to a new review hearing, at least four weeks before the substantive hearing
- Landlords will also need to provide the courts and judges with information on how tenants have been affected by the pandemic. Where this information is not provided, judges will be able to adjourn proceedings until the information is provided.
The Government has already announced changes to the law, so that there is an increase on notice periods to six months.
The only exceptions to this are the worst cases with a notice period shortened to least four months, for cases including anti-social behaviour or criminal activity, and the landlord rightly would like to re-let their property to another tenant.
It’s also been announced that if there is a local lockdown that includes a restriction on gathering in homes, evictions will NOT be enforced by bailiffs