Extortionate court fee increases will impact landlords

11:11 AM, 9th April 2014, About 11 years ago 3

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Landlord Action has lambasted Government plans to increase court fees as “extortionate”. The planned changes will take effect from 22nd April 2014, where fees for possession claims will see one of the largest increases at 60%, and could spark a stampede of possession cases in the next two weeks from landlords trying to beat the rises.

Currently the application for possession, which is used after service of a section 8 notice, costs £175, the same as an accelerated possession claim used after service of a section 21 notice. From 22nd April, this will increase to £280.

The possession claim online (PCOL) service which can only be used after a section 8 notice on rent arrears grounds, currently has a substantially discounted fee of £100. This will rise by 150% to £250, making the discount for using the online system far less appealing.

The Government has stated “the benefits brought by a simplified approach with a fee which reflects the average cost of issuing such proceedings justifies the change.”

Paul Shamplina says in response:

“The rises are ludicrous and will have a huge impact on those landlords and letting agents that find themselves in the unfortunate position of having to start eviction proceedings. Landlords who are seeking possession of their property are usually already in financial difficulty due to rent arrears or damage to their property, so increasing the cost of fighting this battle, and by such a significant jump, seems wholly unfair.

As a company that has fought for the rights of landlords from the start, we have always endeavoured to ensure our services are priced fairly and competitively. Whilst we will try to swallow some of these increases, at such a great hike, we will inevitably have to pass some of this on to our landlords and agents. It is actions such as these which discourage new landlords from entering the market, which is concerning at a time where there is a desperate shortage of rental stock.”

Landlord Action says there has been little public warning of the planned rises but fully expects a rise in enquiries as landlords become aware over the next two weeks.

The only fee which is not rising is the warrant of possession when a bailiff is required, which remains at £110.

Contact Landlord Action

Specialists in tenant eviction and debt collection. Regulated by The Law Society.

Extortionate court fee increases will impact #landlords explains @PaulShamplina @LandlordAction – http://t.co/eKqAis9PPS

— Mark Alexander (@iAmALandlord) April 9, 2014

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Comments

Fed Up Landlord

12:02 PM, 9th April 2014, About 11 years ago

Well if the Government didn't see landlords as cash cows before they certainly do now. How can this be justified? Have all the other fees gone up as much?

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Shakeel Ahmad

12:06 PM, 9th April 2014, About 11 years ago

Will they improve on the incompetence of service proportionately ??? A legal service akin to a legal service of a third world Country .

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Some One

12:22 PM, 9th April 2014, About 11 years ago

This isn't a charge on landlords, it's a charge on tenants.

Typically, if you have a decent private tenant and you send them two months' notice they have enough gumption to make alternative arrangements and court proceedings are not normally necessary.

However, the impoverished LHA tenant is told by the local authority not to move out until the bailiffs turn up. If you need an LHA tenant to leave you have no choice but to go down the court route at which time you claim back the court fees. This extra £105/150 cost could be the camel breaking straw for many such tenants, forcing the CCJ route. This tenant is then saddled with a CCJ from a previous landlord, making reference agencies turn their noses up for the next six years. All because councils are no longer allowed to act when they've seen valid notice.

We hear tales of courts struggling under their general workload, and in the vast majority of cases (barring admin cockups) S.21 possession orders go straight through, so for those cases it's a colossal waste of time, energy and money for everyone concerned, and I'm sure county courts have better things to do than allocate a day a week to landlord-tenant cases.

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