NRLA blast Housing Minister’s court system remarks

The NRLA and other industry bodies have slammed Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook, for claiming that “alarmist statements about the county court system” stem from opposition to abolishing Section 21.

In a letter to Mr Pennycook, Propertymark, Leaders Roman Group and Goodlord, argue that the Minister is dismissing concerns about possession proceedings, which, for some landlords, can take more than six months.

On X (formerly Twitter), Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, said Mr Pennycook is “totally incorrect in his statement” about the readiness of the county court system.

Alarmist statements about the readiness of the county court system

Mr Pennycook told a Renters’ Rights Bill Committee: “Figures for April to June 2024 show that [possession] claim to order median timeliness is 8.1 weeks, suggesting that—I am not necessarily attributing this to the shadow Minister — some of the more alarmist statements about the readiness of the county court system may have more to do with fundamental opposition to the abolition of Section 21 and the current tenancy regime than they are an impartial assessment of court performance.”

In response, the NRLA criticised the government for “dismissing concerns” about the capacity of the court system, despite the government previously acknowledging that the courts were “on their knees.”

The letter said: “We have been clear that we recognise that Section 21 is ending and want to work constructively with the government to deliver a robust new system that is fair for both tenants and responsible landlords.

“Our evidence has been neither ‘alarmist’ nor due to ‘fundamental opposition’ to the changes proposed, and we are disappointed that it appears the government is dismissing it.

“Many across the sector have raised concerns about the capacity of the courts. The Labour-chaired Housing Select Committee last year warned that the courts and tribunal system risk being ‘overwhelmed’ by the changes.

“In its written submission to the Bill Committee, the Law Society has expressed similar concerns and on the 22nd of October you told the Bill Committee that the government agreed that the court system is ‘on its knees’.”

Government court data is skewed

The cross-party group also say the government’s own data on the courts is “skewed” by including paper-based accelerated possession claims, available only through Section 21.

The letter said: “The Ministry of Justice mortgage and landlord possession statistics show the median time from possession claim to order was 8.1 weeks in quarter 2 of this year.

“However, this data is skewed by the paper-based accelerated possession claims – only available using the soon-to-be-abolished Section 21 route – which on average took 6.6 weeks and accounted for a third (33.4%) of all possession claims.

“More importantly, a possession order is not the legal end of the process.

“Since then, the latest data for Q3 2024 shows that the average time for private landlords between claim and actually regaining possession using the Section 8 procedure were 31 weeks as measured by the mean and 23.9 weeks as measured by the median.”

Impact assessment

The NRLA is urging the government to announce when the impact assessment for the Renters’ Rights Bill will be released and to start talks with the private rented sector about replacing Section 21.

They also want confirmation on whether the implementation period will start two months after Royal Assent, as suggested by a Ministry of Housing official.

On X, formerly Twitter, Mr Beadle said the NRLA has always supported reform to the private rented sector.

He said: “We have been consistent from day one and not opposed reform, rather choosing to engage constructively and help shape it.

“We would have preferred to address these issues in private but given the absence of a reply to our previous correspondence, and the inaccurate portrayal of our concerns in Parliament it is necessary to make them public.”

The full letter to Mr Pennycook can be read here

Share This Article