118 days average to remove tenants via courts

118 days average to remove tenants via courts

9:42 AM, 17th July 2018, About 6 years ago 3

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A new research report released by Simple Landlords insurance indicates the average number of days for court-appointed bailiffs to remove tenants from private landlords’ properties after bringing a claim to court is 118 days.

Analysis of Ministry of Justice figures shows 21,429 possession claims were brought to court last year and of these 6,260 ended in eviction by bailiff.

The length of time to eviction is actually down from last year at 153 days but the insurer said that when you add the 2 months of rent arrears required to issue a section 8 notice a landlord is realistically looking at 6 months without any rental income.

The figures also confirm London as the evictions capital, and the South West, North East and West Midlands with the lowest rates of repossession.

Director of underwriting at Simple Landlords Insurance, Tom Cooper, said: “The good news for everyone is that in 2017 only 0.5% of landlords made a possession claim in court.

“Only a third of those had to go through to the bitter bailiff end. The bad news is that if it does happen to you it can cost a lot of money and not just the average £1,700 to £2,000 in legal fees.

“We wanted to get a more realistic idea of the impact of the process in terms of lost income, inconvenience and ongoing legal fees in the worst and longest case scenarios. Just looking at lost rent, there are few landlords who can afford to lose up to six months’ worth. The time it takes for a tenant to go into arrears, for them to issue a Section 21 notice, and then for them wait 17 weeks to see the court process through.”

Analysis figures snapshot:

  • 21,439 Possession claims brought to court by private landlords last year
  • £4,341.22 Average cost in legal fees and lost rent for landlords waiting 4 months to evict
  • London landlords are 3 times more likely to have to bring a claim for repossession to court than landlords in the South West
  • 0.5% Of landlords in the UK will have to make an eviction claim
  • 27% Of claims are not granted a court order either because the judge rejected them or they settled
  • 118 days On average for court-appointed bailiffs to remove tenants from private landlords’ properties after bringing a claim to court


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Comments

Gromit

11:09 AM, 17th July 2018, About 6 years ago

..... and after that no attachment to earnings for unpaid rent, and damage to property, and/or deduction from benefits (probably already spent any HB on fags, drugs, the horses, etc). Would deter people from playing the system.

Dennis Stephenson

11:50 AM, 18th July 2018, About 6 years ago

Not equitable. If the misgovernment wish to bring in extended contracts of 3 years then there needs to be provision to protect the landlord from bad tenants as well as protect tenants from bad landlords and, as we know there is none of the former. I exited from property provision even though I had pretty good tenants, I did lose several month's rent at the end of tenancies when the tenants stopped paying. It seems a common practice. I don't think anyone could afford to lose 6 month's income yet still have all the usual bills to pay. But of course none of this will be taken into account in the one-sided consultations.

Gromit

12:49 PM, 18th July 2018, About 6 years ago

When I lived in America (quite a few years ago now) and rented, it was customary to pay at the start of the tenancy a deposit, first months rent and last months rent.
No doubt there'd be howls from Shelter, Generation Rent et al. at such a suggestion, but, hey, ask for the earth and settle for half. And it'll give them something else to focus on.

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