Landlords taking legal action to repossess properties face a significant hike in the court fees they pay, it has been confirmed.

Late last year the Ministry of Justice (main picture) consulted for a month on a blanket 10% rise for hundreds of court fees it charges litigants including those for landlords and agents seeking to evict via Civil Proceedings.

An Urgent High Court Possession Issuing Fee, which some landlords use when other avenues have failed or are taking too long, rises from £569 to £626.

The other relevant fee hikes are for a General Application Fee which is to rise from £108 to £119 while the charge for Issuing a Writ of Execution will rise from £71 to £78.

His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), which runs on a £2 billion annual budget, has justified the rises saying it is the first time fees have increased since September 2021 and that last year revenues covered less than half its running its costs, the rest being funded by the taxpayer.

Fees are now also to rise every two years, HMCTS has also confirmed, which it says will see regular but smaller increases rather than occasional jumps in fees.

But the consultation reveals significant resistance to the increases, with nearly two thirds of respondents saying they disagreed, including some who said the existing services provided by the courts were already ‘poor value for money’.

Inflation

But the Government says recent high inflation has increased costs for HMCTS and that the extra money raised with will be used to improve service quality.

Landlords will be hoping the extra money will help speed up the already glacial progress many evictions make through the courts despite HMCTS attempts to clear the backlog in recent months.

Court funding for evictions has also been in the political spotlight recently following the Government’s decision to add amendments to its Renters (Reform) Bill that will prevent Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions from being abolished until the courts system is improved.