County Court closures.
As you will probably know, one of the cost cutting exercises carried out by our government is the closure of many of the smaller courts around the country. I reported on this here.
The effect of this will probably be to slow down an already creaking system. I reported here on the other problems which I and others are experiencing with the courts.
Unlike most other types of business, landlords are very vulnerable to problems with the courts. If a tenant is not paying rent, or if a landlord needs to evict a tenant for some other reason, this HAS to be done via the courts.
If a landlord evicts a tenant any other way, for example by changing the locks, this is unlawful eviction and a criminal offence. The tenant will also be able to claim compensation (sometimes substantial compensation) from the landlord.
So if the court closures have an effect on the time it takes, for example, to bring a claim for possession, this is going to affect landlords’ bottom line.
Whatever the government say about it, I don’t see how the closure of so many county courts around the country can have anything other a negative effect on landlords’ claims for possession.
What do you think? Have you experienced any additional delays which you think are down to this?
One of my local county courts already has to deal with daily over-spill by using a room or 2 in the Magistrates Court over the road, and often the waiting area is standing room only, with lawyers interviewing their clients on the stairs.
On days when repossessions are grouped together there can be getting on for 100 cases spread between 6 chambers and 3 court rooms.
I was recenlty referred to a court 6 miles away to deal with an emergency injunction because there werent enough judges to cope that day