Question to the Ministry of Justice:

What steps HM Courts and Tribunals Service is taking to tackle the backlog of landlord and tenant cases.

At the onset of the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Government took unprecedented action to protect tenants from eviction by ensuring no one could be evicted from their homes as a result of the pandemic.

The Master of the Rolls working party, of which HMCTS are members, has introduced robust measures to ensure that HMCTS can deal with the backlog of cases to provide access to justice for landlords while protecting the most vulnerable.

These arrangements include improvement in the signposting and guidance for landlords and tenants, the introduction of a review process to allow early engagement between parties and provisions for possession hearings to take place in a safe way.