Tenants should continue to pay rent and abide by all other terms of their tenancy agreement to the best of their ability. The government has made a strong package of financial support available to tenants, and where they can pay the rent as normal, they should do. Tenants who are unable to do so should speak to their landlord at the earliest opportunity.

Source: Guidance for landlords and tenants

There is extensive support available including an uplift of the amount of Universal Credit available.

Mortgage holidays have been extended to 31 March 2021 (at the time of writing).

Guidance for landlords and tenants is available here.

Possession Notices

In most cases, the length of notice that needs to be given to a tenant has increased to at least six months.

The section 21 notice is at least six months.

The section 8 notice depends on the grounds being used but in most cases it is at least six months. Notable grounds where less than six months may be given include anti-social behaviour or rent arrears of 6 months.

The increased notice lengths are set to expire 31 May 2021 for England and 30 June 2021 for Wales but it’s unclear at this stage what will happen after those dates.

Please see here for length of notices in England.

Please see here for length of notices in Wales.

Please see here for technical guidance.

Possession notices can be downloaded from our website here.

Applying to the Court

After a notice has expired, an application to the court can be made. However, slightly modified rules apply and there will likely be extensive delays in particular with hearings.

Of particular note is the requirement to include with any claim a notice about how the tenant has been affected by Coronavirus (to the best of the landlords knowledge and belief). Where there is to be a hearing, the notice will have to be sent to the tenant beforehand.

For comprehensive guidance on seeking possession, please see this guidance.

Enforcing a Possession Order

At the time of writing, most evictions are banned until at least 31 May 2021. for England and 30 June 2021 for Wales.

There are exceptions including anti-social behaviour (England and Wales) or rent arrears of more than 6 months (England).