Waiting times for eviction court cases are set to get longer after the Renters’ Rights Bill is passed – and new research from Reapit sheds light on the potential fallout.
Under the Renters’ Rights Bill, which is currently in the committee stage in the House of Lords and expected to be law by this summer, all evictions will have to go through the courts – increasing demands on the courts system and making landlords wait longer to regain possession.
The previous government recognised that low court capacity would make eviction reform difficult, pledging to keep Section 21 evictions in place until the court system was reviewed. But the current government isn’t following suit. This month, the Ministry of Justice announced that it would increase court capacity for criminal cases, but made no extra provision for civil courts.
How big of a problem will that be? The Ministry of Justice reported 32,287 accelerated possession claims in 2024 (used when tenants fail to comply with Section 21 notices). Usually these proceed without the need for a court hearing, so when the Renters’ Rights Bill becomes law, the added case load will massively increase the need for court time.
Even under the current system, landlords face long waits to recover their properties. The same Ministry of Justice statement put the average time from claim to repossession at 25 weeks. Naturally, this will increase with the burden on the courts increasing.
For now, it’s impossible to say long those waits will be. Under its own rules, the government is supposed to produce a Justice Impact Test and New Burdens Assessment for the Renters’ Rights Bill, but neither of these have yet been released.
Not just evictions
Eviction cases won’t be the only new burden on the courts. Under the Renters’ Rights Bill, landlords will further only be able to increase rents using the formal Section 13 process, meaning rent review clauses will be banned, and tenancies will be open-ended. Now that tenants will be able to challenge increases at the First-tier Tribunal, the case load can only increase more.
The government doesn’t publish stats on how many rent increases are challenged in this way. In response to a Freedom of Information request from Reapit, the Ministry of Justice said it doesn’t keep track of these cases.
However, based on research carried out in Scotland (where tenants already have greater rights to challenge rent increases), Reapit estimates that English courts could face up to 1.3 million rent adjudication cases per year. If challenged in court, rent increases will only apply from the date of the tribunal decision – so if there are long delays, landlords could be effectively prevented from bringing their rents up to market levels within a tenancy.
Letting agents will have a crucial role ensuring that landlords avoid court with stringent tenant vetting, rent tracking and arrears recovery, as well as local analysis to ensure that rent increases are in line with the market.
