ARLA write to Secretary of State for Justice over possessions backlog

ARLA write to Secretary of State for Justice over possessions backlog

12:10 PM, 30th June 2020, About 4 years ago 4

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ARLA Propertymark have written to Robert Buckland QC Secretary of State for Justice voicing concerns over how the massive possessions backlog will be handled when/if the eviction ban is lifted on the 23/08/2020 and is calling for government to urgently develop a “robust and co-ordinated strategy to ensure no one is denied or delayed the right to justice”

Using previous historical government statistics before the national emergency Arla estimates there will be as many as 62,000 possession cases waiting to be heard and this does not include any case increases caused by the lockdown.

Using an average weekly rental figure of £193 the ban could potentially already have cost a landlord £4,149 and if you add the average time from claim to possession in the PRS using English Housing Survey figures of 22.8 weeks the cumulative potential loss increases to £8,549.

ARLA said in their letter to the Secretary of State: “Every week that a landlord must wait to regain possession of their property is a week of lost income particularly affecting private landlords and agents who may be relying on rental income to pay their own mortgages and bills. Within the backlog of possession claims accumulating during the stay on proceedings, private landlords would have needed to wait for possession to be achieved by using a bailiff on over 3,300 occasions.”

“ARLA Propertymark urges the UK Government to promptly move to develop a robust strategy to manage the re-opening of the courts for landlord possession claims and to work with us and our members on an effective strategy to put in place.”

 


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Comments

Chris @ Possession Friend

15:00 PM, 30th June 2020, About 4 years ago

Well done ARLA,
Its a pity this wasn't coming from Landlord representatives !
All the NRLA seem to be doing is grovelling to and thanking the Govt for the predicament Landlords face. !

Reluctant Landlord

15:26 PM, 30th June 2020, About 4 years ago

about time a consistent voice is boomed out so the powers that be can hear! Not once did I hear any questions 'from the public' regarding the subject, despite I am sure many LL's proffering them. There is PLENTY of time between now and Aug to determine WHAT can be done to address this in advance of the avalanche of new cases coming. Courts have had three months already to shift the existing cases without any new cases at all being allowed. If they have been getting through these, I'd like to see some transparent numbers to back it up. I'm afraid I believe the courts have sat back and not bothered to even address anything marked 'possession' since March. What about all the freed up time NOT spent in court? Telephone hearings could have been much more widely applied and used. Who makes the courts accountable for their inaction? I'm the customer and I've paid for a service I haven't got!

DALE ROBERTS

16:53 PM, 30th June 2020, About 4 years ago

In my country (South Africa) the government has initiated "virtual" court hearings to assist stricken landlords despite our Covid lockdown.
Conversely in the UK, landlords (and I am a non UK BTL landlord) are being forced by legislation to bear the costs of housing non-paying tenants beyond reason irrespective of the hardships this causes. This legislation is so one sided it should be considered abusive.
Thank you ARLA for being the lonely voice of dissension in a void of quiet complacency.
I only hope other landlord organisations take up the cudgels on behalf of the fast disappearing platforms available to landlords and amplify the demand for equitable and fair treatment.

Landlordinsider

22:42 PM, 30th June 2020, About 4 years ago

Arla are asking Government to do something, even though they have already established a working group to look at how best to reopen the courts. I understand NRLA are on this group and ARLA Arent - Im not sure what arla are even asking for by issuing this letter? Certainly there are no ideas and they are clearly out of the loop it seems.

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