"The Winter Truce"
The Courts have now entered into a Winter Truce to protect Tenants from being evicted over the Christmas period.
This Truce is the result of the Government introducing The Public Health (Coronavirus) (Protection from Eviction and Taking Control of Goods) Regulations 2020. The Regulations, came into force from 17 November 2020 (England only) and they restrict bailiffs from conducting evictions until 11th January 2021.
There are a few exemptions in the Regulations for possession orders, these being made;
- Against trespassers;
- Wholly or partly on the basis of anti-social behaviour;
- Wholly or partly on the basis of false statement;
- Wholly or partly on the basis of domestic violence;
- Where the property is unoccupied following the death of a tenant.
There is one further exemption - extreme rent arrears. Extreme rent arrears are considered as a possession order, granted on the basis of 9 months’ rent arrears. However, rent arrears accrued after 23 March 2020 cannot be included as they fall outside of the exemption.
It is worth noting that Eviction notices require 14 days’ notice, so this means it is quite likely that the earliest date the courts will arrange appointments will be 25 January 2021.
The Regulations do not stop landlords from applying to the Court for enforcement where the Tenant has not complied with a Court Order, so Landlords can continue to request appointments despite them not going ahead until mid-late January 2021.
Source: Painsmith Solicitors
