Rule changes to tenant eviction in England -
correct as of 17th September 2020

Over the last few weeks there have been an unprecedented amount of changes to the rules on evicting a tenant.

In my view the changes have been unacceptable. Too many, too soon and unfortunately it suggests the government has no coherent strategy on managing the PRS during Covid – apart from expecting the landlord to pay which I also don’t agree with. Mainly because I believe it will dramatically increase homelessness in the future as landlords could well leave the market.

However, even if you are not having any issues with your tenants currently, with furlough ending shortly, every landlord needs to be up to speed with the new rules.

The question is – who do you trust?

1. If you are using a well-educated ARLA or RICS agent such as Belvoir, Reeds Rains, Your Move, Leaders, Romans, Maxine Lester, then talk to them
2. If you are a landlord and need to evict a tenant, we suggest you try mediation first. If required, engage a company such as the Property Redress Scheme to help you.
3. Unless you are a full time landlord and familiar with all the changes, it’s certainly worth considering a fixed fee eviction service such as Landlord Action

 
To bring you up to speed with the changes, here are some super resources:-

1. This is a great webinar with Paul Shamplina to explain the new evictions.
2. LandlordZONE are producing some great articles explaining latest changes – part of the problem is the government are ‘drip feeding’ changes! The following Q&A is also really helpful from Landlord Action
3. This is another good webinar from another great landlord resource, Landlord Law. 
4. David Smith is a legend on PRS law, always worth a listen or reading his updates: Scroll down for his essential blog post reads.
5. Finally, the NRLA have a great article on ending an Assured Shorthold Tenancy.

How to evict a tenant - Landlord Action	How to organise a bridging loan - Brooklands Commercial Finance	Electrical safety for landlords - NAPIT