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Landlords are urged to lobby MPs to highlight the impact of the evictions ban
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
Landlords are being urged to lobby their Members of Parliament to highlight the consequence of the five-month ban on repossessions, due to end on 23rd August.
The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) and Landlord Action are working to encourage affected landlords to tell their MPs about the impact it is having and the need to prioritise urgent cases when the courts begin to hear them again.
Landlord Action has recorded approximately 500 live pre-COVID cases stuck in the system as a result of court closures. One landlord, David Healy, is owed over £10,000 in arrears and his tenant has not paid any rent since November 2019.
Mr Healy’s court hearing, which was due to take place on 5th May, has been adjourned and he does not yet know when this will be rescheduled for.
The ban prevents landlords from taking swift action against those committing anti-social behaviour, causing misery for other tenants in the same property as them. One tenant, Rowan Castle, has launched a petition calling for landlords to be given the immediate ability to evict those committing anti-social behaviour.
On twitter he has said: “This is a total disaster. I’m living in a shared house with a nightmare tenant. We all want her gone, as does the landlady. Her anti-social behaviour is driving us and the neighbours up the wall. She was due to go on 1st July. I can’t put up with it for another 2 months.”
The importance of lobbying MPs will be highlighted during a webinar taking place this Wednesday (1st July), during which Ben Beadle (Chief Executive of the NRLA), Paul Shamplina (founder of Landlord Action) and Vanessa Warwick (co-founder of Property Tribes) will discuss the impact of the repossessions ban, what things might look like in the autumn and the important role that landlords can play in the campaign.
Ben Beadle and Paul Shamplina have commented: “In the vast majority of cases landlords and tenants are working hard to sustain tenancies wherever possible. It is vital, however, that as courts begin to hear repossession cases again, that they prioritise the most urgent.
‘This includes cases of anti-social behaviour, those where rent arrears were building pre-COVID and cases which were started, but then paused, prior to lockdown.
“To support this, landlords have a vital role to play in telling their MPs about the impact the repossessions ban is having as well as highlighting the ways in which they are supporting their tenants through the current crisis.”
