A huge amount of Section 21 notices are currently being filed according to Dutton Gregory Solicitors.
The firm said there’s been a spike since the announcement of the announcement of the planned abolishment of Section 21 in the Renters’ Reform Bill, while if this trend continues corporate landlords will begin to dominate the sector.
As a result of the proposed abolition, the Government has said the grounds of Section 8 will be strengthened to allow landlords to recover their property. However, this hasn’t offered peace of mind to many buy-to-let owners.
Gina Peters, head of landlord and tenant at Dutton Gregory Solicitors, said: “Our increase in workload hasn’t gone unnoticed, and we feel many private landlords are now suddenly serving Section 21 notices as a safety precaution.
“The current socio-economic situation has seen inflation, mortgages, and interest rates sore, which is having a knock-on effect on housing stock and forcing rental payments to go up.
“This has left many landlords in a tricky position, as they want to retain their property and make a profit, but fear they could potentially go for months without receiving rent if a tenant defaulted.
“Many would now rather serve a notice – while they still can – with the intention of selling their property and exiting the rental market.
“The proposed Section 8 grounds on paper give landlords the ability to get their property back, however, any court claim for possession will require a court hearing, without the possibility of just the presentation of paperwork. This could see the whole process take significantly longer – months, rather than weeks.
“The length of the notice for rent arrears is due to increase from two weeks to four, which means a landlord could experience rent not being paid for an even longer period. The Civil Procedure Rules currently provide for all possession claims to be listed for hearing within eight weeks, though this was suspended during the pandemic and has never recovered in certain courts.
“As the court infrastructure currently stands, the system would not be able to cope with the influx of increased numbers of possession hearings, as listing in all courts is at a premium. I fear the inherent delays with Section 8 could bring about the significant decline of the private rental market.”
Peters went on to say the private rental market could turn “extremely corporate”, with smaller landlords being hounded out and replaced by large Build to Rent firms.