The government’s reluctance to properly fund eviction courts could cause chaos once the Renters’ Rights Bill becomes law, a leading lawyer has warned.

Gary Scott (main image) partner at Spector Constant & Williams, says the county courts are already creaking at the seams, and believes an already painfully slow system will get even slower with the possible influx of legal claims.

Writing in The Times, he explains that being forced to prove the ground for possession before an order is made will inevitably require more court and judicial time when no fault evictions are abolished.

This will be compounded by severe delays in the bailiff system, where it can take up to a year for landlords to evict a non-paying tenant while a defended claim might take considerably longer than 18 months from the point of first non-payment.

Landlords could therefore face serious financial repercussions, particularly if they have a mortgage on their rental property or rely on the income as their pension, says Scott.

Underfunding

“As the bill has progressed, the government has failed to properly address the underfunding of the courts,” he explains. “Instead of a formal impact assessment on court capacity, Matthew Pennycook, the housing minister, relies on the unevidenced assumption that tenants will be reluctant to take legal action, despite also claiming that the legislation will empower tenants to do just that.”

By failing to tackle the backlog or investing properly in digital processes, the government risks landlords losing faith in the system, he says.

“This risks a reduction in available rental properties as some landlords sell or those who stay in the sector increase rents to cover the risk of a lengthier and more expensive possession process. This is a situation where tenants will lose out too — the very thing the government wanted to avoid.”

Main image credit: Spector, Constant & Williams.