Covid tier restrictions tightened
The UK Government approved the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (All Tiers) (England) Regulations 2020, which tightens restrictions within all three tiers in England. PM Boris Johnson stated that the tier system will be in place until March 2021, when there are hopes a vaccine is rolled out to most of the country.
Possession guidance
The possession action guidance was created in light of the Public Health (Coronavirus) (Protection from Eviction and Taking Control of Goods) (England) Regulations 2020 that came into force in England on 17 November, which prevent the enforcement of evictions against tenants, other than in the most serious circumstances until 11 January 2021 and, given the 14-day notice period required, no evictions are expected to be enforced until 25 January 2021 at the earliest.
The requirement to provide a minimum of six months’ notice in most circumstances applied during the period of national restrictions, which ended on 2 December, but will continue to be enforced in all local tiers.
The exemptions to these regulations include:
- illegal occupation
- false statement
- anti-social behaviour
- where a property is unoccupied following the death of a tenant
- extreme rent arrears (equivalent to nine months’ rent with any arrears accrued since 23 March discounted).
The guidance breaks down important information for agents and landlords including:
- Making a claim
- Warrants or Writs of Possession
- Existing possession orders
- Extreme COVID arrears
- Existing claims
