Housing possession claims and mediation

In February 2021, the government announced its intention to introduce a mediation service for use in possession claims with the aim of helping to resolve cases without the need for a face to face court hearing.

The flesh of this has now been carved out. In summary:

• The Society of Mediators will be offering landlords and tenants a free telephone mediation service
• The suitability of mediation can be considered at the possession review hearing and prior to the substantive first hearing of the possession claim
• If the landlord and tenant both agree, the matter will be referred for mediation and the intention is that there will be an initial meeting within two days of a referral
• A full mediation should take place within ten days of the referral

Comment

It remains to be seen what the take up of this mediation service will be and how useful it will be in practice.

Review hearings were introduced following the lifting of the Covid-19 related stay on possession claims. In our experience, the review hearings have not made much, if any, difference in possession proceedings and have served only to delay the substantive hearing.

Registered Providers should only be issuing claims for possession as a measure of last resort in any event and, in our experience, have already exhausted all other options. That said, if this mediation service helps to open the lines of communication between landlords and tenants where the relationship has broken down due to lack of engagement, it may well be a positive measure. Time will tell.

Should you require further advice or support on handling possession claims, please contact a member of our housing and regeneration team.