The government says that no fewer than 1,000 new judges and tribunal members are required to handle increased demand as a result of the Renters Rights Act.
In a letter to the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) the minister for the courts and legal services – Sarah Sackman – says she understands the “ongoing concern about the speed with which possession cases are processed to provide landlords and tenants with confidence in the justice system”.
The minister says the court service has already redeployed staff and is on a recruitment drive to ensure the courts are ready for the predicted increased in possession claims following the loss of section 21.
As the NRLA puts it on its website: “The loss of the no-fault process means you must now use one of 37 revised grounds for possession. If your tenants then fail to leave the property in line with the notice period, or they challenge the grounds, the case will have to go through the courts.”
Sackman gives the association more detail on its bid to cope with the increased legal workload, saying that two new digital services – for possession and for the Residential Property Chamber – are under development.
And it insists that full end-to-end digitisation of the courts, leading to reduced waiting times, will be in place by May next year.
This will replace the existing process, where the courts must process and issue claims via physical documents, increasing the risk of lost documents and delays.
She says landlords and tenants representing themselves will still have the option to submit paper statements, but all internal case management work will be deat with digitally.
Her letter goes on to say that while the government will ultimately set up a non-judicial body to determine appropriate rents for given areas, in a bid to reduce pressure on the First Tier Tribunal, though it is still considering how this will work in practice.
NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle says: “While we are pleased the Minister is taking our concerns seriously and bolstering capacity in the courts and tribunals service, the proof will be in the pudding.
“Increasing the number of judges and tribunal members is a good start, but what is important to us is that landlords have confidence they can take back possession of their properties in a straightforward and timely manner where they have legitimate reason to do so, something that will depend entirely on how the process works in practice.
“We also need to know what is happening when it comes to the new body charged with dealing with challenges to proposed rent increases.
“With increasing numbers of tenants expected to do this under the new rules, we need a clear plan in place from the Government to prevent the tribunal becoming overwhelmed.
“There also needs to be a clear mechanism by which it can monitor how well the courts are coping with the increased demand.
“We will continue to work closely with the courts and tribunals service to monitor the impact of the Act, specifically with regards to wait times, and will remain in close dialogue with ministers and senior civil servants as the digital services are developed.”
