Landlords face eight-month wait to evict problem tenants under Labour
Landlords could be forced to wait more than eight months to evict problem tenants under Labour rent reforms, data shows.
The Renters' Rights Bill will ban Section 21 notices, also known as no-fault evictions, strictly limiting the ways in which landlords will be able to evict a tenant.
The policy will become law later this year despite warnings that Britain's courts are already under severe pressure. Court wait times stand at 32 weeks – a delay campaigners have warned could stretch even longer once the legislation comes into force.
Private landlords looking to repossess a home faced an average wait time of eight months, from the time they made a claim and eviction, in the final quarter of last year. The average wait for the last four years was 36.4 weeks, according to the latest government data.
The warning comes as the Renters' Rights Bill returned to the House of Lords this week, with ministers hoping to receive royal assent on the bill this summer.
Amendments which would have kept no-fault eviction for those with fewer than five properties, and which would have kept some fixed-term rental contracts, were rejected by peers on Tuesday.
Chris Norris, of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), campaign group said: 'The Government must, as a matter of urgency, explain the steps it is taking to ensure that the courts will be able to cope with the extra demands which will be created by the Renter's Rights Bill.'
He added: 'If court users are to have any confidence at all in these reforms, we need to see a clear definition of court readiness, minimum performance standards for the justice system and a plan for how those standards will be met.
'Without this, the bill risks creating a system that fails both tenants and landlords alike.'
Matthew Pennycook, the housing minister, said during debates in the House of Commons on the Bill that: 'Court readiness is essential to the successful operation of the new system.'
He said his department was working closely with the minister for courts and legal services to make sure that the justice system was ready for the changes, but admitted: 'There is no dispute on the Government side of the committee as to the fact that the court system is on its knees after the past 14 years.'
The Telegraph understands that the County Court process will be digitised to reduce pressure on the courts.
However, Sarah Sackman, the courts minister, earlier this month warned of delays to the online process. She said: 'We are not where we want to be in terms of timeliness and the digitalisation of the court.
'The extension of renters' rights and the balance that piece of legislation strikes between renters and landlords is only as tangible as the extent to which those rights are enforceable in the real world.'
Lord Marlesford, a Conservative peer, said in the House of Lords on Thursday: 'We should bear in mind throughout… that the judicial system in this country is under huge stress.'
Baroness Warwick, a Labour peer, likewise acknowledged the challenges faced by the courts in Thursday's debate, describing it as: 'A court system which is under extreme battles and pressure.'
But renters' campaign groups defended the Bill. Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, said: 'Cases that end in bailiff evictions often involve tenants who are desperate and unable to afford a new home.'
He added: 'With 160,000 children in temporary accommodation and over a quarter of homelessness situations cases being caused by a no-fault eviction, the need to give greater protections to renters across England has never been more urgent.'
A Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: 'Our Renters' Rights Bill will abolish Section 21 evictions for new and existing tenancies immediately, giving renters greater security and stability so they can stay in their homes for longer.
'We want to reduce demand on courts, with reforms to make sure that only cases with a clear ground for possession will be able to proceed.'
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