The notice period to end a tenancy is currently extended to 6 months in England and Wales due to the Coronavirus pandemic. There are some exceptions. For example, in England, if arrears are over 6 months, four weeks’ notice may be given, but this doesn’t apply in Wales. In England and Wales, trespassers and those committing anti-social behaviour may be evicted more quickly. In England possession proceedings must be commenced within 10 months of serving the notice if s. 21 is being relied on. These extended notice periods are in force until the 31.03.21 in both England and Wales, after which they revert to the pre Coronavirus notice periods unless there is further legislation, which seems likely.
If the tenants ignore the notices, there is nothing currently stopping the landlord from issuing possession proceedings in the County Court. There is an additional review stage currently in the court process, but this isn’t particularly difficult to deal with. Further, it’s not taking as long to obtain a possession order as many people feared. This may be because local authorities are issuing very few possession claims at the moment. That’s likely to change so it might be wise to get your possession claim into the process as soon as possible.
Finally, if the tenants ignore the court’s order, as they may be advised to do by the organisations that advise and lobby for them, not to mention the local authority, then the landlord will need to issue a warrant (County Court) or writ (High Court) for the bailiffs to attend and physically evict the tenants. There is currently nothing preventing the issuing of a warrant or writ, however, in either case, the bailiffs are prevented from attending the property in order to evict the tenants before 31.03.21; it is possible that this date will be extended. Again, there will be a backlog so it may be best to push on as quickly as you can.
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The contents of this note are simply the view of the author at the date of writing.
