Tenants faced with eviction must have legal aid, the Law Society of England and Wales claims.
Recently published statistics from the Ministry of Justice for October to December 2023, show that mortgage possession claims increased by 39 per cent and evictions increased by 14 per cent compared to the same quarter last year.
All landlord possession actions, including eviction orders, have increased compared to the same quarter in 2022. Thirty-six per cent of all landlord possession claims were social landlord claims and 31 per cent were private landlord claims.
Law Society vice president Richard Atkinson says: “The rising number of evictions and repossessions remains a significant worry, as we are deeply concerned about the state of the housing legal aid system.
“With the cost-of-living crisis and high interest rates, many are struggling with rent and mortgage payments. For those at risk of losing their home, access to housing legal aid becomes vital.
“Yet our research has found that 25.3m people do not have a local legal aid provider for housing advice. More and more firms can no longer afford to offer this service, as legal aid rates have decreased by almost 50 per cent since 1996.
“This means that those on low incomes cannot receive the advice they are legally entitled to. Furthermore, those who are unable to access legal aid will be forced to represent themselves, which will place additional pressure on the courts and exacerbate court delays.
“The government’s failure to increase housing legal aid has weakened the justice system and robbed those who face evictions and repossessions of assistance which may enable them to avoid becoming homeless.
“We urge the UK government to immediately invest in housing legal aid to ensure that people are able to access the legal help needed to stay in their homes.”
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Trying to drum up a bit of extra business 👍🏻😂💰💰
And the landlords ?
Do landlords get legal aid as well?
Don’t be silly. 😉 Landlords are all rich and can afford lawyers. It is the poor downtrodden tenants who slave every hour of the day to pay their greedy landlords who need the help. 😡 No such thing as a level playing field. Citizens Advice will not even advise landlords. We don’t count as citizens.
😂😂 Comedy Gold, keep em coming as I am under the weather today and need a cheer up 🎉. Maybe the NRLA should ask that question next time they meet this useless government.
Simon, The NRLA would just roll over and say 'they don't have a problem with LL not getting legal aid". They don't care. So long as you subscribe and buy their stuff.
We just need to give private landlords back the tax relief on mortgage interest and
we will stop selling up. Simple.
I would like to keep my rental property for my retirement but if you have a mortgage on the property many private landlords are running at a loss.
Plus rental reform bill is the final straw for most private landlords.
The result is a lack of rental properties and rents going up as 20 tenants looking to
rent each rental property.
Urgent Gov action is required to help private landlords before its to late. !!!!
Totally agree with this I have a very low rate tracker mortgage and have held my property for over 20 years Current tenants been there several years With the abolition of section 21 I will not relet when they move
Cheeky Fkr, asking for a payrise to chase ambulances.
We need a specialised housing court who can spot the rogues on both sides with costing the tax payer a fortune!
Money grabbers
Local publican says , everyone must buy beer
No. Everyone must be GIVEN beer!
(Where do I sign up for this deal?)
I made a small mistake on PCOL. in any normal environment it would have been easily rectified . I had had past the first 3 hearings. When it came to Bailiffs the Rent dodging Tenant received a pack from the court basically a no win no fee eviction operation , Duty solicitor told me if not accepting suspended possession offer . I seek cost order against me at over £200 per hour. plus .
This was accepted Tenant never Paid , then on date of 2nd eviction Breathing Space for another 3 months
Utterly corrupted Court/Legal system, not remotely fair or fit for purpose. This blatant open bias needs to stop. Housing matters need to be removed from the county courts.
😱😱 and people ask why we are selling.
Agree with A JR Gaining possession should not require going through the courts, there must be a better, cheaper and quicker way.
I have heard that in some countries you can report a non payment of rent, by one day, to the police and they will evict the tenants!
I didn't get legal aid to GET MY OWN HOUSE BACK FROM SOME FOREIGN NATIONAL WHO HAS COME OVER HERE WITH HER 4 KIDS TO LIVE ON BENEFITS. Why does she get free legal help, but I pay into it, don't get it and pay privately????
Welcome to the new world 🌎🫣 vote Reform.
I am.
@ Simon and Nick - me too!
And me.
Reform for me too. I am fed up with the red and blue party. They have been rubbish for this country for the last 40 plus years.
"Thirty-six per cent of all landlord possession claims were social landlord claims and 31 per cent were private landlord claims". So what were the other 33% ??
Good point, unless Diane Abbott prepared the figures.
That was my first thought!
Just lining the pockets of corrupt solicitors
We contacted Law Society for an eviction advice, wasn't unable to provide any guidance. We hired solicitor to evict, got nothing back until we became detectives to investigate and reported to the police, the tenant ended up in jail. A reputed letting agent messed up big time. What legal aid? Help yourselves when private landlords become extinct.
We could tell Donald Trump.
More corruption so maybe not such a good idea
He would build a wall round them and let them rot...
@ Peter Why Do I Bother, Why, exactly, is that a problem? LOL
As it is, in my experience of 20 years, always the tenant which causes the eviction by breaking the tenancy agreement why should they get legal aid and we do not?
Just how many lawyers and Councils are living off our backs.
Giving the impression that we want to get rid of all Tenants, which is not true.
Tenants are our Business and we love to keep them as long as possible on the clear understanding that it is our property and that will never change. So we have to have control of our own property and the ability to make business decisions from time to
time, if that involves requiring vacant possession that’s what it is. It was vacant before you came too. We have always given them a reasonable time scale discussed and acceptable to both parties without the influence of third parties, obviously they knew at t end of the day we had S.21 so there wasn’t a problem until Pinocchio decided we should have mass homelessness.
The rest is history.
They are all creating work for themselves.
"Every tenant facing eviction must have access to legal aid say lawyers." Well they would say that wouldn't they?
I mean if the tennants can't pay their rent, then they are not going to pay for a lawyer either! So not wishing to miss out on all that business, they demand that the taxpayer pays their fees. Nice work if you can get it, eh?
As the courts are so woke and corrupt nowadays, it's likely solicitors will be falling over themselves to bill the tax payer all the exorbitant fees and exorbitant costs of fighting a section 21 in court.
I suggest that all solicitors should register their willingness to represent their poor clients, and offer their services on a pro bono basis, not just for tennants but for landlords too!
And while we are at it, get rid of the woke and corrupted judges, and set up an impartial hearing where a landlord, and a tenant and an estate agent are the three judges for the case, and where small errors are not used to dismiss the case, and evidence based facts are accepted and form part of the judgement.
This is why I fear being a landlord. Having to go to court and deal with expensive people and wokeness.
Previous to introduction of Section 21 by the Tories then Messiah Maggie T properties to let especially in London had become virtually non existent for fear of being straddled with a lifetime sitting tenant on controlled rent and ability to pass tenancy on to children after death. It then took several years or more for property owners to be confident enough to metaphorically dip their toe in the water and begin letting so even if Gormless Gove & co were to scrap the Renters Reform Bill tomorrow it would take a long time if ever (especially with Labour round the corner) before PRS is restored to something approaching normal service and properties to let are not as rare as rocking horse droppings.
A lot of tenants are well off. Surely they must be means tested. What about the Landlords who have to pay out thousands of pounds. Some tenants rent because they want to, so they get everything done for them they don't want to buy houses. They will likely take the Landlords to court for anything if the get legal aid. Then they wonder why Landlords are wanting to sell up
I remember those days time David. All I could get to rent was a bedsitter where the gas and electric meters were rigged with the landlords own coin meters, paying £1's per day for gas and electricity, just to keep the light on. Sash windows drafty as hell in winter and shared bath with 8 other tennants. It was hell.
I did know a married couple who had a lovely flat and only paid £6 per month because the rent was frozen and protected, and they were sitting tennants.
I moved to York to find work. I got a job eventually with the council, but there was nowhere to rent. Ziltch. Nowhere at all. I had to live in a tent for 6 months. It was terrible. Let's hope we dont go back to those days again. The woke won't survive it, for sure. Hang on, maybe it's not such a bad idea?
It will sort out those woke and wolly headed, by giving them a bit of hard reality. What they used to call "the school of hard knocks". I wouldn't wish that on anyone, but it looks like it's coming down the pipe!
Frank, very good I can concur been there done that in my younger days.
The Shared cooker & little sink on the landing in some I kid you not, where’s me health & safety and certificate’s. The gas geezer on the Bath was like a Bomb going off when people weren’t quick enough to light it with the match. We were great full for what we had, with take home pay £15.00 pw after stoppages and that included working until 4.00 o’clock on Saturday’s.
Now Shelter offering £55.00 ph to do a non job and damage the economy as much as possible.
I remember a headline back then big deal 625’000 out of work no spongers back then either work for what you got.
Today’s generation are ruined and now free legal aid to help them do nothing.
Lawyers wanting the tax paying public to foot the bill for their legal services to tenants who have typically caused their own eviction, who would have thought???
I had a tenant who got into £8k of arrears before I filed a section 21 notice, by the time the tenants were evicted the total bill was £12k. where is my legal aid??
The worst of it was that it later transpired that the tenant had spent the £8k of missing rent, on a 2 week holiday for 4 in Cyprus. Tax payer funded legal aid, it only in the interest of the lawyers.
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