The government has recently confirmed that there will be a winter truce on the enforcement of evictions over the forthcoming Christmas and New Year period as part of a number of measures it has recently introduced to protect tenants who may have been negatively impacted by the current crisis.
The truce will mean that evictions that may have been planned some months ago cannot take place between 11th December 2020 and 11th January 2021.
The news comes on the back of earlier announcements which stated that:
From 28 August 2020:
Landlords who already had possession claims in the system - and who would have given a three months’ notice of these - must:
- Serve a ‘reactivation notice’, informing both their tenant and the court that they wish to resume the action.
- Provide relevant information about the tenant’s circumstances before the repossession is brought to court including any relevant information about the tenant’s situation with regard to COVID-19, including how their health and finances have been affected (*).
Landlords who wish to bring a new possessions claim must:
- Give their tenants at least 6 months’ notice before they seek to gain possession of their rental property through the courts. This includes  section 21 evictions and rent arrears under 6 months. Only in exceptional circumstances i.e. such as cases involving anti-social behaviour or domestic abuse, is this notice period to be decreased as detailed on the government website.
- (As per existing possession claims, above (*)) provide relevant information about the tenant’s circumstances before the repossession is brought to court.
All measures are to be in place until at least the end of March 2021.
If you need to find out more about how this might impact you as a landlord, or tenant, please access the government website or contact your local Your Move branch for advice
The Your Move Content Marketing Team
