Increasing number of evictions being delayed or cancelled due to lack of County Court bailiffs

Delays to County Court evictions means landlords are facing ever mounting arrears from rogue tenants.

Landlords' woes are on the increase with the latest news that many County Court bailiff evictions are being put on hold or cancelled due to a lack of court time and the availability of bailiffs to carry out evictions.

Landlord Action says that while the Ministry of Justice claims delays and cancellations are down to safety concerns, the reality is that a lack of investment in the courts is being compounded by changes in regulations and rising interest rates, sparking landlord panic to exit the rental market. The organisation is calling on Judges at County Courts to start granting leave to transfer more eviction cases with serious arrears to the High Court to share the burden of the rising workload, as an increasing number of County Court bailiff evictions are being suspended.

The delays in the process means that some landlords have been left waiting for more than six months to reach the point of eviction and are being financially crippled by ever mounting arrears from their tenants. This situation has been exacerbated by rising mortgage interest rates and the forthcoming Rental (Reform) Bill which seeks to abolish Section 21 evictions, meaning even more cases are likely to end up in the courts.

Landlords wishing to evict tenants must first serve a notice to their tenant and, unless it is a Section 21 ‘no fault’ notice, then must wait for the relevant County Court to approve the eviction, issue a warrant, and book an eviction date. Unfortunately court delays are being caused by a large reduction in the numbers of County Court bailiffs employed to attend evictions. And when they do attend, bailiffs simply don’t have the time to wait, so if there is a problem on the eviction day, they are only waiting for 10-15 minutes before moving on to the next case, leaving many unresolved.

The current wait time for possession in some cases is 37 weeks from claim to possession – that’s nine months and simply isn’t affordable for most landlords. Although transfering cases to the High Court can be more expensive for landlords, it is much quicker, meaning that the higher costs incurred can be somewhat offset by the lower rent arrears incurred.

Landlords opting for ONE Management are covered for rent arrears by our Sure Rent rent guarantee insurance. If you're interested in switching to ONE Management, or wish to find out more about our Sure Rent rent guarantee insurance please contact us via our contact form or call 0161 511 5339.