The government has pledged to “guarantee” that landlords will be able to repossess properties more swiftly through the courts as part of reforms to the rental market.

The pledge was made by Housing Minister Rachel Maclean at a fringe event held at the Conservative Party conference, organised by the think tank Bright Blue and sponsored by the National Residential Landlords Association.

The Renters Reform Bill will see Section 21 repossessions end. The NRLA has warned that the replacement system will fail without urgent reforms to ensure the courts are able to swiftly process possession claims where landlords have good cause.

At present it takes an average of over half a year between a private landlord making a claim to repossess a property through the courts to it actually happening. The NRLA warns that this is simply too long, especially where tenants might be committing anti-social behaviour or if they are in extreme rent arrears.

Now the Housing Minister has pledged that the courts will process such cases more quickly. She told the fringe event that it was “very important” that alongside the Renters Reform Bill landlords had “a guarantee” that where possession cases do end up in court, they will be processed much faster than at present.

NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle says: “Without the confidence of knowing that where they have good cause they can regain their property swiftly, the exodus of landlords from the market will continue. All this will do is make it even harder for renters to find a place to live.

“The Minister’s comments are welcome, but they need to be backed up by clear plans setting out actions that will be taken and a timeframe for implementation. That must include investment in new staff and greater use of technology to process cases more swiftly.”