Articles by ‘Jacqui Walton’

Government restrictions on tenant evictions by landlords have now been lifted (on 20 September). But there is unlikely to be an immediate spike in evictions following new eviction protocols and a backlog of cases.

The ban on evictions due to the impact of Covid-19 has been extended for another four weeks.

Jacqui Walton offers a further update on the latest Practice Direction for landlords, coming into effect later this month.

Landlords have been able to make new possession claims during the lockdown but there has been a stay on the Court issuing new and progressing existing proceedings until 23 August 2020. Urgent changes have now been made by the Government dealing with how claims will be managed by the Court. Court Practice Direction 55C has been introduced and comes into force on the 23 August 2020. These temporary provisions will be in effect until 28 March 2021

While the government is supporting tenants by preventing them from being forced out of their homes during the pandemic there is no exemption from paying rent. Tenants are reminded that they do not have a right to pay a reduced rent or no rent. They remain under a legal obligation to pay rent in full.

All ongoing residential housing possession actions are suspended for an initial period of 90 days with further scope for a further period of extension thereafter.

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has taken drastic action to protect citizens. One promise it has given is that social and private tenants will not be evicted during these times of hardship. However, the temporary emergency legislation, the Coronavirus Bill (“the Bill”) actually says something a bit different.

Last week the Insolvency Service announced the disqualification of Jane Hipkin Russell of Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, an estate agent who had failed to comply with her obligation to protect tenants’ deposits.

Legal restrictions on the amounts that landlords and agents can charge in the way of fees to their prospective tenants come into force on 1 June 2019. The changes are designed to prevent unscrupulous landlords and letting agents from charging huge sums to tenants when they are entering into a tenancy agreement. Landlords and agents can now only charge for the rent, the tenancy deposit and a holding deposit. Tenants can not be charged for referencing, checking an inventory or administrative fees.

With changes taking place to legislation in April 2017, what do landlords need to know about Rent Repayment Orders?

Jacqui Walton discusses the plight of unsuspecting new build buyers caught out by onerous ground rent review clauses.

The recent case of Barton v Wright Hassall reinforces that although there is talk of the judiciary adopting a policy of forgiving technical non-compliance with the court rules for people representing themselves, in reality they are not yet ready to do this.