The latest Ministry of Justice figures show that landlord eviction claims are now higher than pre-Covid and the main reason why so many landlords are getting claims in, is to beat the scrapping of Section 21 notices.

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The figures covers January to March 2022 showing that 6,447 Section 21 claims were made by landlords to evict tenants, which is around 3 per cent higher than the the same period in 2019.

Overall during the first three months of this year 3,763 evictions were granted to landlords which shot up by more than a third – 38 per cent – from the previous quarter.

However although the numbers are not huge they are still very significant as there will be a continual rise before the fateful incoming legislative change.

A spokesperson of an automated payment and reconciliation platform for agents, commented: “Section 21, having been virtually unused during the pandemic for obvious reasons, is starting to be used more frequently again. So, if and when it is scrapped, it is likely that there will be a higher number of claims already in process, which will make some kind of bedding-in period even more vital.”

Another spokesperson for a trade body, said: “Ultimately, tenants’ interests are best served by a rental market where landlords have confidence to invest, giving tenants a choice of properties to rent at a competitive price due to a balance of supply and demand.