No eviction notices to be served until January in England
The six-month ban on evictions came to an end on 30 September 2020. The position in the last two months had been that the lord chancellor had informally banned bailiffs from carrying out evictions while enhanced coronavirus restrictions were in place. However, after the government was threatened with the prospect of a judicial review, new legislation has been formalised for the timeline of evictions in England.
The new secondary legislation, in the form of this statutory instrument, came into force on 17 November 2020 and prevents eviction notices from being served until 11 January 2021.
With the 14-day notice period, the earliest that evictions will resume is 25 January 2021, except in the most ‘egregious’ cases, such as anti-social behaviour, perpetrators of domestic abuse in social housing, and extreme rent arrears (equivalent to nine months’ rent discounting arrears accrued since 23 March), which are exempt.
Evictions in Wales
It should be noted that the Law Gazette reports that they asked the Welsh Government to confirm its position on evictions, to which a spokesperson said:
'Notice periods for eviction in Wales, other than in relation to anti-social behaviour and domestic violence, are currently set at six months. Whilst evictions were not enforced in Wales during the recent firebreak period, they have now resumed. HMCTS has, however, indicated that there will be no enforcement of evictions by bailiffs during the Christmas period.'
Posted on 12/11/2020 by Ortolan
