As the lockdown winds down, many tenants in Scotland, who have fallen behind with their rent may be wondering when will landlords be able to evict people again?
Well the answer, is possibly sooner than most think, as unlike elsewhere in the UK, there never has been an explicit eviction ban in Scotland.
What there was, however, was a combination of different measures that made evictions almost impossible over the last five months, especially for tenants with rent arrears.
However, as Scotland now exits the lockdown there is a growing concern that some tenants, who have fallen behind with their rent, may face eviction action sooner than they believed was possible, despite the fact the Scottish Government has stated it will extend the protections it put in place until the 31st March 2021.
What Protection did the Scottish Government put in place?
The first protection the Scottish Government put in place was it made it a requirement for all landlords, whether they were private landlords or registered social landlords to give their tenants six months’ notice before raising legal action against them for rent arrears.
Without a court or tribunal order in Scotland, it is illegal to carry out most types of evictions, with a few exceptions.
This meant, even if a landlord gave notice to a tenant that they intended to evict them, and that notice was given after the 7th April 2020, then legal action could not be raised until October 2020, at the earliest.
However, for many of those tenants that have had notice served, their landlords will now be able to initiate legal action once the six months are up. This means for some tenants, in just over one month.
What Other Steps were taken?
Other steps that were taken were the sheriff courts in Scotland banned all but essential court action, meaning they were not dealing with rent arrear cases. The tribunal that deals with private residential tenancies took similar steps. However, it is now understood Scottish sheriff courts and the First Tier Tribunal (housing and property chamber) are now accepting new applications from landlords. Come October, those cases where six months’ notice was required, there will be a gradual trickle of cases beginning to work their way through the system.
Do you need to leave when your landlord tells you to?
The first thing that people must know is you do not need to leave when your landlord serves on you a Notice of Proceedings (where you are a housing association or council tenant) or a Notice to Leave. These are just notices that your landlord must serve if they intend to take steps to evict you. Until the 31st March 2021, these are the notices that give you six months before court action is raised, if they are for rent arrears.
Do you need to leave when a landlord gets an eviction notice?
Even when your landlord gets an eviction order from the sheriff court or the First Tier Tribunal, you still don’t need to leave. However, your landlord may give you a date that he wants you to leave by. Equally, however, this does not mean you have to leave by that date.
If a landlord wants to force you out the property, there is normally only one legal way to do this and that is by first serving on you a “Form of Charge for Removing”. This gives you 14 days to leave the property, after which sheriff officers can physically remove you from the property.
Is there anything you can do?
Throughout this process, there is always something you can do.
In Scotland, more court orders are granted that don’t end in a physical sheriff officer eviction than those that do, which suggests many landlords will still negotiate even after they have an eviction order (but, it is at their discretion).
They instead may prefer to hold it over you to ensure you do maintain any repayments if you enter a payment plan with them.
Equally, even after court orders are obtained from the sheriff court, it may still be possible to have your case brought back into court to be reconsidered. This is called a recall, and although it is not guaranteed you will be allowed one, it may be possible if you did not seek advice and no-one represented you in court when the case was first heard.
Will we see evictions over the winter?
The truth is, therefore, we will see evictions taking place in Scotland over the winter, where some tenants have got into rent arrears because of the Covid-19 Crisis. Equally, however, tenants with rent arrears can take steps now to ensure this doesn’t happen.
One of the best ways to avoid being evicted is to get advice, as most landlords just want their rent paid and for you to engage with them
