An eviction firm says the UK court system is nearly at a crisis point as many County Court Bailiff evictions are being delayed or cancelled.

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The firm says that while the Ministry of Justice claims delays and cancellations are down to safety concerns, the reality is more fundamental.

The spokesman for the industry organisation says: “This is just the beginning and without intervention the problem is going to get worse and worse.

“The historic lack of investment in the courts is now being compounded by changes in regulations and rising interest rates, sparking landlord panic to exit the rental market.”

He sends out a clear warning: “This is before Section 21 is abolished and more eviction cases end up in the courts.”

The firm says Judges at County Courts need to start granting leave to transfer more eviction cases with serious arrears to the High Court to share the burden of rising workload, as an increasing number of County Court bailiff evictions are being suspended.

Some landlords have already waited more than six months to reach the point of eviction and are being financially crippled by the delays.

The firm cites a current case which a client landlord has had to wait sixteen weeks from the possession order date to the confirmed date of a bailiff appointment.

But this week the court has told the landlord that the eviction date will now be rescheduled beyond the original date in August in spite of the fact that he has had to wait six months to even get to this stage. 

The unfortunate landlord has already lost £20,942 in rental arrears from his tenant which is growing daily to the tune of £81.91.

The firm says: “We’ve offered our client the opportunity to re-apply to have his case transferred up to the High Court, but naturally there is a reluctance as this is yet another cost for the landlord. Whilst the High Court could help alleviate the delays, it won’t solve the crisis we are facing. Whilst bailiffs aren’t striking like other public sector workers, they are following work-to-rule action, and the Government must invest in the court system, including a review of bailiff salaries, if they are to improve recruitment and give landlords any confidence in the future of buy-to-let.”

Landlords wishing to evict tenants must first serve a notice to their tenant and unless it is a Section 21 ‘no fault’ notice which will be scrapped as part of the Renters Reform Bill, will have to wait for the relevant County Court to approve the eviction, issue a warrant, and book an eviction date.

A chief executive of a private bailiff firm specialists in High Court writs and evictions across the UK , claims numbers of County Court bailiffs employed by courts to carry out evictions have drastically fallen.

He says: “The bailiffs simply don’t have the time to wait, so if there is a problem on the eviction day, they are moving on after 10-15 minutes leaving cases unresolved. 

“The current wait time for possession in some cases is 37 weeks from claim to possession – that’s nine months and simply isn’t acceptable.

“Judges should be granting permission to transfer up to the High Court as a matter of course, given the current circumstances. Of course, whilst this route is usually much quicker, it is also more expensive for landlords, but less than one month rent, so the quicker possession can be obtained the landlords can take steps to re-let.