Eviction ban threat provokes new campaign by industry big hitters

Agents and landlords are urged to lobby MPs to highlight the threat of the current eviction ban and to urge no further renewal of the measure.

The National Residential Landlords Association and Landlord Action are joining forces for the campaign. 

Landlord Action alone has approximately 500 live pre-COVID cases stuck in the system as a result of court closures. 

A statement from Landlord Action - which has 500 live cases stuck in the court system since before the Coronavirus outbreak - cites one buy to let investor who is owed over £10,000 in arrears and his tenant has not paid any rent since November 2019. His court hearing, which was due to take place on May 5, has been adjourned and he does not yet know when this will be rescheduled for.

Both Landlord Action and the NRLA will be promoting the importance of lobbying MPs in a webinar tomorrow. 

A statement from NRLA”s Ben Beadle and Landlord Action’s Paul Shamplina says: “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.”