22nd
May 2017
Results from new research highlight the need for drastic reforms to be introduced making it less costly and difficult for landlords to evict 'rogue tenants'.
The study reveals that for landlords to successfully get rid of tenants who are not paying their rent, it can take up to nine months for the process to be completed and ends up costing landlords in the region of £2,000 in court costs.
A student rental website carried out the research it predicts that because of rising rents many more landlords will have to contend with rental arrears, which in turn leads to more evictions.
A specialist residential eviction company will cost a landlord around £1,981 to retrieve their property and the costs for each stage are:
£120 to serve 2 months notice
• At present landlords must serve a section 21 notice which tells the tenant that they have two months notice of an impending eviction. Councils have been known to tell tenants who have been served notices to stay put.
£685 for a Property Possession Order
• If the tenant refuses to leave the property the landlord will have to apply to court for a possession order to retrieve their property and it will then take between four to six months to complete the process.
£1,176 for a High-Court Bailiff
• Once the landlord has been granted a possession order the court will decide upon the date the tenant must vacate the property which will be between 4 to 6 weeks and only then can a court bailiff carry out the eviction.
£1,981 = the total cost for the eviction of tenant refusing to pay their rent which can take at least nine months.
However this is not the only bad news as the online student portal says that landlords could face even more debts and costs:
• It is more than likely that through the nine month eviction process, the tenant will refuse to pay any rent so they can live rent free for the period costing the landlord thousands in lost revenues.
• It may cost landlords thousands of pounds if the property has to be repaired or even renovated and to cover breakages. In many cases this does happen as non paying tenants show little respect for the landlord and therefore the property is of no real value to them.
Danielle Cullen, managing director at StudentTenant.com, said: “We really do need reform in the rental sector to protect landlords’ rights when it comes to evicting tenants.
“Local councils are encouraging tenants to stay in the property until the eviction date, usually months into the future, so they are eligible for emergency housing. Tenants can only apply for it once they have been legally evicted, and if they leave any earlier, they are choosing to become homeless and cannot receive any support.
“Landlords and tenants are being really let down by the regulations in the sector. When it comes to removing non-paying tenants, the government needs to make changes to make it quicker to remove a tenant in this kind of situation.
“There also needs to be more support for tenants who are being evicted through no fault of their own. They should be supported in finding a new property, to prevent them from having to stay until they are literally forced out.”
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