The Government has announced more information regarding its crackdown on anti-social behaviour, including plans to enable landlords to evict unruly tenants in a quicker timeframe.
Landlords will be given more powers to eject tenants who misbehave quicker and more easily. Referred to as the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, it includes a promise that Ministers plan to “change laws and arm landlords with the tools to ensure that anti-social tenants face the consequences of their actions”.
The measures, which will be included in the expected Renters Reform Act, will make grounds for possession under a Sec 8 notice faster and far easier to prove. Currently, Landlords tend to use the Sec 21 route to evict an unruly or anti-social tenant because it is very difficult to prove ‘anti-social behaviour’.
The new measures will include:
- Ensuring all tenancy agreements include clauses specifically banning anti-social behaviour.
- Making the notice period two weeks for all anti-social behaviour eviction grounds.
- Making sure that landlords are aware of existing tools – such as injunctions and Criminal Behaviour Orders.
- Expanding the discretionary eviction ground, to make anti-social behaviour easier to prove in court and….
- Making it clear that any behaviour ‘capable’ of causing ‘nuisance or annoyance’ can lead to eviction.
- Working with the courts system to explore how to prioritise anti-social behaviour cases in Possession Lists, thus speeding up the process of evicting an anti-social tenant.
- Bringing forward legislation which will set out the principles that judges must consider when making their decision, such as giving weight to the impact on landlords, neighbours, and housemates and whether the tenant has failed to engage with other interventions to manage their behaviour.
On this face of it, these proposals seem an improvement over the current state of affairs and a positive and viable alternative to Sec 21. However, whilst a shorter notice period can now be given and – in theory at least – the burden of proof may be lower enabling decisive action, the success of this strategy is still dependent on being able to access the court system in a timely fashion.
Hopefully, by next week, we will be in a position to update our readers on the meaningful improvements to the court system, that will be required to support these proposals.
