On 17 November 2020 the Government put into law the request previously made of bailiffs by the Lord Chancellor to suspend evictions during lockdown.
The Public Health (Coronavirus) (Protection from Eviction and Taking Control of Goods) (England) Regulations 2020 came into force yesterday in England and will remain in force until 11 January 2021 in relation to evictions which I focus on here specifically.
Regulation 2 bans anyone from attending a residential property to execute a warrant of possession or to deliver a notice of eviction.
However, for social housing landlords there are some helpful exceptions.
The general ban does not apply if the warrant or notice is:
• Against trespassers whose names are not known;
• Wholly or partly made as a result of reliance on
o the absolute ground for possession;
o evidence of anti-social behaviour;
o evidence that the tenant knowingly or recklessly made a false statement which caused the tenancy to be granted;
o evidence of domestic abuse; or
o the death of an assured tenant so long as the person executing the warrant or delivering the notice takes reasonable steps on attending the property to check that it is unoccupied.
The ban also may not apply if the court is satisfied the case involves substantial rent arrears and “substantial” is defined as being at least equal to the sum of 9 months’ rent and arrears accrued after 23 March 2020 will disregarded for the purposes of this calculation.
There will also be the usual “Christmas truce” whereby evictions should not be carried out between 11 December and 11 January 2020.
If the exceptions apply above and your case warrants a forthwith possession order it may be possible to secure an eviction this side of Christmas but otherwise, as with many other plans for at the moment, there will be no action on this front until 2021 (at least…).
If you have any questions about a specific case or would like to discuss these new rules in more detailed please contact Zoe Glacken.
