15th
Feb 2024
An industry association says the current government must introduce specialist housing courts with judges who know how to handle and resolve cases quickly with a consistent level of judgments when it bans Section 21 evictions.
By doing so this will alleviate the considerable pressure on County Courts and speed up access for both landlords and tenants by fast tracking claims’ processes.
Citizens Advice carried out research on the current court process and found that only 23 per cent of renters felt they could rely on applying to court if they had issues, 54 per cent said they found that the process of taking a claim to court is over complicated resulting in them not bothering to take to proceed.
In his latest revelation about the Section 21 ban Michael Gove stated that it would be made illegal in England before the upcoming General Election.
Prior to the Renters Reform Bill’s second reading the government announced in November that it was holding back the Section 21 bans as it wanted to reform the court process to offset its impact.
The association has for such a long time been urging the government to introduce a housing court system to handle the major issues caused by abolishing Section 21. Its proposals have included the creation of a specialist housing court system which is properly resourced to handle evictions and other housing matters.
As the Housing Secretary has stated Section 21 will be outlawed before the general election, the association wants the government to sensibly reform Section 8 legislation.
Failure to do so will no doubt cause an exit of private rental sector landlords and rental housing stock; the changes to the legislation must be fair and just for both landlords and tenants.
The House of Commons Levelling Up. Housing and Communities Committee also agreed with the association’s views.
In February 2023 the cross-party Committee’s report concluded that the major hindrance for the Section 21 reform was the “capacity of the courts” and that the “best way to improve the housing court system is to establish a specialist housing court”.
A spokesperson for the industry asociation, says: “The removal of Section 21 is a complex issue for which there needs to be full consideration of all involved. Propertymark is keen to see a dedicated and specialist housing court within the wider system that will be fully geared to deliver on its objectives before any such change. Failing to address the capacity of the courts could lead to substantially longer waiting periods for housing issues to be addressed. All new alternatives must be fully stress tested and be fit for purpose from day one of any proposed changes taking effect."
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