Possession Restrictions Extended

We thought we’d kick off your Monday morning with an update on the Governement announcements from the back end of last week.

Firstly the Government issued updated guidance for moving home and commissioning Energy Performance Certicates. There are no changes of great note. The property market is still open with an emphasis on only carrying out viewings with people that you are likely to accept as tenants. To help with this we provide virtual tours for our properties in the first instance and conduct initial interviews to ensure that anyone that does view, are likely to be the right tenants for you.

You can read the guidance here:

Moving Home

Energy Performance Certificates

There was also an announcement at the back end of the week that the moratorium on possession orders would be extended until at least the 21st February. In practice this means that from this date Bailiffs can serve the N54 notice on a tenant advising them of a warrant for possession. This is a 14 day notice, so in practice, the earliest you will be able to obtain possession will be the 8th March 2021. This does not prevent landlords serving Section 21 or Section 8 notices, or making an appliction to Court for possession.

We understand that the Government are intending to introduce a pilot mediation scheme aimed at helping landlords and tenants reaching a mutual agreement to avoid eviction. See more here.

If you are need of any advice, please do contact us.

Please note the date this article was published as the law may have changed since it was posted. You should always seek independent legal advice if you are intending to rely on any of the contents.