The government has brought forward a new measure due to outbreak of Coronavirus which means that landlords will have to give all tenants three months’ notice if they intend to seek possession.
This protection covers most tenants in the private and social rented sectors in England and Wales, and all grounds of evictions. The guideline confirms that, “the Court Service will suspend all ongoing housing action”. It seeks to clarify this statement by adding “neither cases currently in the or any about to go in the system can progress to the stage where someone could be evicted”.
At the expiry of the notice, a landlord who wanted to take the next steps in progressing the possession claim would have to apply to the courts for a possession hearing, a process that ordinarily takes 6-8 weeks, and may take much longer under the current circumstances. The remainder of this ruling should be read in light of this further update. The new guidance and practice direction can be found below:
