Longer possession disputes are driving up landlord costs

Landlords trying to regain possession are facing longer delays and higher legal bills as tenants challenge eviction notices, according to law firm Thackray Williams.

The firm warns that every accelerated possession claim it has recently handled has been challenged by the tenant.

Instructions from landlords seeking vacant possession rose both before and after the Renters’ Rights Act took effect on 1 May, while enquiries from tenants facing eviction have also increased.

Accelerated landlord possession claims, which include Section 21 claims, were 16% higher between April and June than during the same period last year.

Possession claims challenged

The firm’s contentious construction litigation partner, Mustafa Sidki, said: “Every one of these has been resisted by the tenants, who have refused to vacate, necessitating accelerated possession proceedings.

“In turn, every accelerated possession claim has been challenged by the tenants – and in each case they are asking the courts to give them more time to find alternative accommodation.”

He added: “These challenges require full court hearings, increasing the costs that landlords are facing and the amount of time before they will be able to secure vacant possession of their properties, at the same time leaving renters in limbo.

“The route to acquiring possession has changed with the implementation of the RRA, but the increasingly difficult economics of being a landlord haven’t.”

Landlords seek exits

Thackray Williams said it received a flurry of instructions from landlords looking to serve Section 21 notices before the possession route was abolished under the Act.

The firm is now seeing more instructions to serve notices under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 and to begin possession proceedings as landlords continue to consider selling.

A recent Savills survey in June found that 11% of landlords had sold one or more properties.

It also found 30% were considerably more likely to consider disposing of properties within the next 24 months, rising to 54% among mortgaged landlords.

Costs keep rising

The law firm pointed to tax, finance and regulatory costs among the pressures affecting landlords who are reassessing their investments.

These include the forthcoming 2% increase in tax on property income, the impact of Section 24 mortgage interest restrictions, Making Tax Digital requirements and higher maintenance, service charge, insurance and licensing costs.

It said some landlords are also refinancing buy to let mortgages at rates of 5% to 6% after fixed deals of 1% to 2% come to an end, while future EPC C requirements add another area of uncertainty.

The Savills survey found 62% of respondents had become significantly less likely to buy another property.

Guardian’s one-sided view

Meanwhile, the Guardian has published an account of England’s overloaded housing courts dealing with Section 21 possessions and gives plenty of space to the difficulties facing tenants, but much less to the landlords.

At Stratford housing court, as many as 29 cases can be heard in a day, with tenants frequently seeking extra time to remain while landlords face long waits to recover their properties.

In some parts of London, the delay for county court bailiffs is now said to be seven months, prompting landlords to ask for cases to be transferred to the High Court.

Official figures show Section 21 evictions rose 16% between April and June compared with the same period in 2025, as landlords sought possession before the no-fault route was abolished.

The article’s focus is largely on tenants struggling to find alternative homes, yet landlords selling because their properties no longer work financially, or simply needing possession back, receive far less attention.

Nye Jones, from Generation Rent, told the newspaper: “The fact so many landlords uprooted tenants’ lives just because they still could, shows how badly we needed greater protections and the end of section 21.

“Ideally local authorities should be providing more support to people who are on the cusp of homelessness than just ‘stay at home until the bailiffs come’.

“But it’s a sad fact that they want to avoid putting them in temporary accommodation as long as possible.”