With effect from today, 1st June, the eviction ban on residential property has finally ended. Eviction notice periods had been extended to six months during the pandemic but will be set at 4 months from 1st June except for the most serious cases. Assuming that the lifting of lockdown restrictions goes as planned, the notice periods will return to how they were pre-covid from 1 October 2021. This means that a maximum period of two months will be required once again. The real question is how long it will take for Bailiffs to enforce possession orders given how many landlords have been waiting for evictions to be carried out for over a year. It seems clear that serious cases of rent arrears and anti-social behaviour will be prioritised over other possession grounds. Unless Parliament allows private Bailiffs to carry out evictions, which is unlikely, it seems that it will take a very significant period of time until evictions are carried out within a reasonable period of time. Indeed, it may take over a year until we get back to possession orders being enforced within six – eight weeks from the issue of a warrant of possession. However, where circumstances dictate, an application can still be able to be made to the Judge to expedite a warrant, although the evidence put before the Court will need to be quite compelling in order to obtain a direction for an expedited eviction.
Should you have any queries regarding any of the above, please do not hesitate to contact Simon Braun on 01582 466163 or by email s.braun@pmsolicitors.co.uk or Kathryn Dale on 01582 466152 or by email k.dale@pmsolicitors.co.uk