The UK Government has made a temporary amendment to Civil Procedure Rules 1998 in order to manage the resumption of possession proceedings when the “ban on evictions” ends on 23 August 2020. The temporary amendment makes several changes to the usual process for possession proceedings, including requiring claimants who wish to resume proceedings to “inform the court and defendant in writing of this after the expiry of the stay in a ‘reactivation notice’” and acknowledges that the government expects an “increased volume” in possession proceedings.
Changes under the temporary amendment include:
- Claimants will now be required to inform the court and the defendant in writing that they want to resume stayed proceedings after the expiry of the stay.
- Claimants will also be required to provide any relevant information about the defendant’s circumstances, including information on the effect of the pandemic on the defendant and their dependents, so the court can consider defendants’ vulnerability, disability, and social security position, and those who are “shielding”..
- Claimants will also need to, as far as practicable, produce the full arrears history of the defendant in advance rather than at the hearing.
- The court will be allowed to fix a date either on or after issue, so that hearings may be appropriately spread out.
- The court will also be able to suspend the standard period between the issue of a claim form and hearing, which usually would be no more than eight weeks, again to spread out hearings appropriately to ensure that the court has capacity.
Work on the changes has been underway since June, with an emergency working group taking into consideration the practical issues of resuming proceedings, including pre-action conduct, case management, remote working and social distancing, and managing increased volume in possession cases; the position of tenants, landlords, lenders, local authorities, and other court users; and those people who are particularly vulnerable.
The courts are going to be extremely busy for the foreseeable future and it is usually the less well off and the less well informed who find themselves struggling. My advice is to try your utmost to work with any tenants who are experiencing difficulty paying their rent. Give them as much help as possible and steer them in the right direction – show them where they can find help. Speak to your local authority as they may be able to help & they do not want families to become homeless. Court action should be your absolute last resort.
Feel free to pick up the phone for a chat with one of our team. We are here to help.