Court reform: Act now to make your voice heard
With court delays of up to a year in parts of the country landlords are being encouraged to make their voices heard when it comes to campaigning for reform.
Real world data is vital when it comes to campaigning for change, with The High Court Enforcement Officers Association (HCEOA) backed by the NRLA, Propertymark issuing a rallying call for landlords to come forward and share their experiences of deadline with the courts.
We are working with the association to lobby Government for a change in the law to make the whole process quicker and easier for all landlords.
The High Court Enforcement Officers Association is calling for the courts to make it easier to transfer possession claims to the High Court, where enforcement is usually faster.
To this end, the association has published a landlords and property agents survey to highlight the challenges and delays landlords face around the country to add weight to the argument.
The data and evidence collected will be shared with the Government to show the scale of the problem landlords are facing and to demonstrate how landlords are being unfairly affected by delays in the County Court system.
Announcing the campaign NRLA Chief Executive Ben Beadle said: "There are landlords across the country who have waited months to have an eviction order granted by a judge who will be forced to wait several more months for an eviction date from over-worked and under-resourced County Court bailiffs.
"All this time landlords are losing money through lost rent which is no fault of their own. It is an unfair, unacceptable situation for all of these individuals.”
Only by answering the survey can we ensure your voice is heard – and your argument listened to.
Using the High Court
The call to action comes just weeks after landlords struggling to get their properties back because of delays in the County Court system were urged to enforce their judgments through the High Court.
How do I enforce through the High Court?
If you haven’t yet applied to the County Court for a Possession Order, you can apply for leave to ‘transfer up’ to use the High Court for enforcement at the same time as applying for the Possession Order.
You can do this by adding a ‘Transfer Up’ application to your draft Possession Order.
In some parts of the country, this could save you months, compared to waiting for an eviction date from a County Court bailiff or having to make a separate application to transfer enforcement to the High Court at a later stage.
