Landlords face RRA tribunal delay chaos

England’s tribunal and court system is already struggling with case delays as the Renters’ Rights Act adds fresh pressure to rent appeals and possession cases.

The warning comes from Real Estate:UK which submitted Freedom of Information requests to the five Tribunal Property Chambers.

It asked for the number of tenant rent appeal cases over the past three full years, and the average time taken to consider, process and rule on them.

Four chambers responded, with three providing substantive data and one confirming it did not hold the information requested.

To underline the issue, Ministry of Justice data shows the average time between a court accepting a private landlord possession claim and repossession under the grounds-based route has risen by three weeks over the past year to 27.4 weeks.

PRS attraction hit

The organisation represents more than 500 members and its assistant director, Kate Butler, said: “With the Renters’ Rights Act and s21 abolition now in effect, and given serious concerns as to the stability of the market, many would expect that the government would have, and be able to share, a basic understanding of the impacts of the Act on the judicial system and its detailed plans to mitigate these.

“Yet here we have new evidence which clearly demonstrates a clear and deeply concerning lack of consistent collection of rent appeal data within the Tribunal process, and evidence that 80% of current recorded appeals take over 10 weeks to decide.”

She added: “Expanding the use of the s13 process to all tenancies will dramatically increase the number of appeals the Tribunal hears, and there is no evidence to suggest that it will be able to effectively deal with this, or that the government will be able to undertake its commitment to measure ‘overwhelm’.

“This not only undermines the attractiveness of the PRS for new investors, but it will negatively impact existing landlords and incentivise their exit.”

More than 10 weeks

Across the three tribunals that supplied figures, 2,944 rent appeal cases were recorded over the period.

However, only one chamber confirmed that it held data on how long those appeals took to conclude.

That chamber said just 21% of appeals were decided within 10 weeks before the Renters’ Rights Act came into force.

The findings raise questions over how ministers will measure whether the tribunal system has become ‘overwhelmed’.

The organisation is also questioning how the government’s commitment to allow the backdating of rent in unsuccessful appeals occur where serious delays are evident.

Government has no data

Ministers have also confirmed through written Parliamentary Questions that the government does not hold centralised data on appeal volumes or processing times.

Real Estate:UK says that leaves no reliable baseline for measuring additional pressure as the Act expands use of the Section 13 process for challenging rent increases.

The government has also committed to carrying out a viability assessment of an alternative or filtering body to make initial rent determinations before cases reach the tribunal.

However, no timetable or operating detail has yet been confirmed.

The firm says the government has also not published its Justice Impact Test, which assesses the effect of the Act on the tribunal process, and is resisting its release.

The organisation also points to continuing delays in possession cases, despite ministers having pledged ‘court readiness’ alongside the Act’s implementation.

The government has announced £50 million of funding linked to court readiness, but Real Estate:UK says ministers have not provided specific metrics, timelines or a definition of what readiness means.