Landlords urged to use High Court enforcement to tackle eviction delays

Landlords struggling to get their properties back because of months of delays and a ‘postcode lottery’ in the County Court system are being urged to enforce their judgments through the High Court.

Landlords across England and Wales currently face significant delays in evicting problem tenants and reclaiming their properties caused by backlogs in the County Court system. 

In some parts of the country, particularly London, there can be delays of a year or more before an eviction takes place.

In many instances, this has been the outcome even once a Possession Order has been granted.

The High Court Enforcement Officers Association (HCEOA) is working with the NRLA, Propertymark and Landlord Action to support landlords and inform them of their options.

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.

How will this help?

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.

For those landlords worst affected by the delays in the system, ‘transferring up’ to use High Court enforcement might be the best option even if they have already applied for a Possession Order. 

Evictions necessary in worst case scenario for landlords

This type of action only happens where a court has already judged a tenant must leave the property, but the tenant has not done so -a nightmare scenario for landlords. 

It is not a ‘short-cut’ route for an unscrupulous landlord to try to end an agreed tenancy or evict tenants who have done nothing wrong - nor does it undermine any of the principles being talked about as part of the Renters Rights Bill.

Change in legislation vital

As well as providing a solution right now to the worst affected landlords, the HCEOA and its partners are planning to engage with Government to encourage a change in the law to make the whole process quicker and easier for all landlords.

To support this the HCEOA has published a landlords and property agents survey to highlight the challenges and delays landlords face around the country. 

The data and evidence 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.

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.”

Michael Jackson, Vice-Chair of the High Court Enforcement Officers Association (HCEOA), said:“It’s clear that this postcode lottery of delays in County Court evictions is proving to be a real nightmare for landlords in some parts of the country.

"High Court enforcement isn’t a magic wand, and it won’t be the right choice for every landlord right now, but it can certainly help those facing the worst delays in evictions, which are unfairly costing landlords thousands of pounds.”

Timothy Douglas, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Propertymark, said: “Propertymark member agents cite delays at every stage of the possession action process in the County Court, this begins from the initial claim up to the eventual possession by a County Court Bailiff and is the product of many contributing factors.

"To this end, enforcement timings can drastically differ from region to region. We know that when using a High Court Enforcement Officer, the execution of a Possession Order is notably quicker.

"It is therefore vital that the UK Government look at reform in this area to improve access to justice in the private rented sector.”

Paul Shamplina, Founder of Landlord Action, said: “The delays we are seeing in the County Court system in London and the South East in particular are unbelievable. I know of cases where landlords are facing waiting times of 15 months just to get an eviction date. Ultimately, we need a change in the law to make this situation fairer, but it’s important landlords know their options right now.”