Evictions: Nobody likes them. Nobody wants them. And we certainly don’t want to encourage them but sometimes a landlord has no choice.
The law on evictions seems to be in a constant state of change; partly because the government has tried to protect tenants who have suffered financial problems due to COVID-19 although the rules were already tightening up considerably even before COVID struck. Now, there are even more changes.
There is an excellent article on the National Residential Landlords Association website which sets out the most recent https://www.nrla.org.uk/news-breathing-spaces-new-rules-will-give-tenants-break-from-debt. It’s concise and well-written so I won’t try and summarise it – I’ll just recommend that you read it yourself if you are a landlord thinking, for whatever reason about ending a tenancy.
I will quickly mention though, one of the themes it covers – “Breathing Space.” If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a new set of rules the government has just brought in on debt recovery (including potentially rent debts) which are there to give “respite” to “people struggling with debt” https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-scheme-to-give-people-in-problem-debt-breathing-space-launched The government sees these rules as being particularly relevant to protect people who might have mental health issues, but it should be noted they could potentially apply to anyone with a problem debt.
Breathing Space is definitely something that you should make yourself aware of if you deal with rent arrears. If we hear more about how the new rules start impacting our sector, we will of course let you know.
Liz Mooney
The Sandwell Landlords Blog 