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House prices fall or rise (take your pick)
4 comments
House prices went up slightly – by 0.4% – in July, the Land Registry has reported. It

Knight Frank stay quiet after conman is jailed
9 comments
A tenant who faked his identity when renting through Knight Frank has been jailed for three

Rich overseas buyers keep prime London market aloft
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Chinese buyers are expected to replace Russian investors as major players in the prime central London

Moving occasion: today's the day!
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The most popular moving date is today, September 1, the Post Office has revealed. The two next

Prospective first-time buyers sink to new low
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The proportion of buyers expecting to buy for the first time in the next 12 months

Housing market 'edging towards double dip' claim
2 comments
Net lending plummeted in July to the second lowest monthly figure since records began in 1993,

Henry Pryor Blog
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Welcome to a new monthly blog by Henry Pryor, estate agent turned entrepreneur, inventor and expert

Rightmove profits climb 39% as more agents sign up
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A rise in the number of agents and an overall willingness to pay more to Rightmove

Portal creates new 'check out your competition' stats
1 comments
Property portal Home has created some new statistic pages on its site which we reckon will

Six in ten mortgages are now for house purchase
2 comments
The proportion of mortgages being taken out for purchases, as opposed to remortgages, is at its

News Story

Evictions take longer as courts clog up

Friday 8th May 2009

Evicting tenants who fall behind with their rent is taking longer.

Eviction service Landlord Action says it is now taking three months just to get a hearing date because the county courts are so busy as the housing market crisis hits home.

Director Paul Shamplina said: “Of course, this delay means more lost rent. Judges and bailiffs are inundated. Not only are there landlord and tenant eviction cases to deal with, but repossessions are at a 15-year high, thereby increasing their workloads.

“The landlord has no choice but to sit in the queue and wait.”

Shamplina said there has been a ‘significant’ rise in landlords wanting to get rid of bad tenants, and that landlords are not only suffering financial hardship but stress.

He said: “I have just completed filming for BBC Breakfast News in which I was accompanied by a film crew when serving notice on a tenant who owed nearly £9,000 in rent on her property.

“The landlord was a widowed mother of three who had bought the property to give herself an income when her husband died. She is now suffering from depression and is on anti-depressants and painkillers. She told me her whole body was aching due to the stress.

“In city centres, including Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and London, we have seen a 20% rise in the last year in the number of landlords contacting us to help them evict their tenants due to non-payment of rent.

“There are an increasing number of tenants losing their jobs, and paying the rent is not always at the top of their priorities. Being just one month late with the rent can lead to the landlord experiencing mortgage arrears and so they are doing everything in their power to rectify the situation as soon as possible. Our advice line has been overwhelmed with calls for assistance.”

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Editorial Contact Details - Rosalind Renshaw | rosalind.renshaw@estateagenttoday.co.uk | 01252 843 566.