Minister admits court processes are not where they need to be
A senior Justice figure has admitted the Government are behind schedule with changes to the court process, with only months before the Renters’ Rights Bill is due to become law.
Courts Minister Sarah Sackman told the Justice Select Committee “we are not where we want to be in terms of timeliness and the digitalisation of the court process.”
The NRLA, together with other private rented sector organisations including BPF (British Property Federation), Goodlord, Propertymark and Leaders Romans Group, has consistently argued there needs to be assurance that the courts will be able to deal with the vast increase of possession claims, as the abolition of Section 21 looms.
The Select Committee and the Law Society have also questioned whether the court and tribunal system can deal with an increase in possession claims.
As of Q3 in 2024 , it was taking on average 31 weeks following a possession claim for a landlord to recover their property using the Section 8 process - almost eight months.
Huge changes
The Minister admitted the huge changes in the forthcoming Bill mean changes to the courts will be key.
“That is going to be a big and important piece of legislation with consequent litigation that will come off the back of that with the expansion of new rights. That is an important area of work. We are seeking to effect this end-to-end digitisation there,” Sackman told the Select Committee.
She also conceded that “The extension of renters’ rights and the balance that that piece of legislation strikes between renters and landlords is only as tangible as the extent to which those rights are enforceable in the real world.”
If you’d like to read the letter the NRLA and other institutions sent to the Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook in its entirety, you can access it in full here.
More information
- For the NRLA’s guides outlining how you can start to prepare for the Renters' Rights Bill click here.
- For more on the NRLA's approach to the Bill and our campaigns work read a blog by our policy director Chris Norris here.
- Extra dates have been added for our new Renters’ Rights course, after training sessions sold out in record time. For more information and to book click here.
- We have also added a new eLearning option for the Renters’ Rights course, allowing you to take the training at a time and place to suit you. For more information and to book click here.
