Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce a pre-action protocol for councils which would encourage the negotiation of affordable rent payment plans with tenants before seeking bailiff enforcement action following the end of the current moratorium on new evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The existing Pre-Action Protocol for social landlords (attached) https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/protocol/pre-action-protocol-for-possession-claims-by-social-landlords encourages landlords and tenants to try to agree affordable sums for the tenant to pay towards rent arrears based on the tenant’s income and expenditure. Landlords are encouraged to do this as soon as possible and to postpone commencing court proceedings for as long as the tenant keeps to such agreement, or to adjourn proceedings if an agreement is reached after proceedings are begun. The failure of a landlord to comply with the protocol may be taken into account by the court in deciding what orders to make.

There are currently no plans to revise this protocol.