Private Rented Housing: Evictions

(asked on 28th September 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that tenants facing eviction or who have been illegally evicted have access to legal advice and representation.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 1st October 2020

With the exception of evictions for trespass under rule 55.6 of the Civil Procedure Rules, which were exempt from the stay on possession proceedings, HM Courts & Tribunals Service county court bailiffs undertook no evictions during the period of the stay from the 25 March 2020 to 21 September 2020.

The notice of eviction (N54) advises tenants to seek help and advice about the eviction, or about re-housing from an advice agency, solicitor or their local authority housing department. In addition, as part of initiatives to assist tenants facing eviction, the notice must now also include a list of local debt advice agencies who tenants can contact for further advice. These steps have been put in place to support the existing legal, debt and housing advice already available in many courts to tenants when attending possession hearings.

Subject to statutory means and merits, legal aid is available for cases concerning evictions. The Legal Aid Agency has recently launched a tender to secure additional housing legal aid providers.

We are working with the judiciary on measures to support all parties now possession hearings have resumed, and as part of this we are exploring the option of mediation.

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