Bailiff-enforced evictions suspended over Christmas season

BREAKING: Bailiff evictions to be suspended over Xmas and New Year for a month! 

Tenants facing eviction in England are to be protected from losing their homes during the Christmas and New Year period, HM Courts and Tribunal has confirmed.

Between 13th December and 10th January, no evictions should be scheduled or executed by a bailiff, although if landlords have an urgent eviction they need to book-in following the court process ‘around these times’ then they can alert the bailiff manager of the court in question. It has been heard a London court is quoting dates from 10th December to 4th January. 

This is similar to last year when bailiffs were asked that they should not enforce other than in the ‘most serious circumstances’.

“It is never nice to evict a tenant at the best of times but especially over Christmas,” says Paul Shamplina of Landlord Action. “This amnesty is only for a month and I’m sure that landlords whether they are affected or not would expect such an amnesty during a period of the year when good cheer and kindness are to the fore – and in the wake of the Covid pandemic.”

In previous years before Covid, the arrangement was more informal and under the radar – and shorter – but Covid appears to have changed that.