The Government's ban on evictions is due to be lifted this coming Monday, 21 September. When cases are heard again, these will be subject to new court processes and procedures, including:

• Cases will be prioritised – so those involving anti-social behaviour, other crimes and extreme rent arrears will be heard first
• No cases from before 3 August 2020 will immediately go to hearing, but will have to be ‘re-activated’ by the landlord and then subject to a new review hearing, at least four weeks before the substantive hearing
• Landlords will also need to provide the courts and judges with information on how tenants have been affected by the pandemic. Where this information is not provided, judges will be able to adjourn proceedings until the information is provided.

The Government has already announced changes to the law, so that there is an increase on notice periods to six months.

The only exceptions to this are the worst cases with a notice period shortened to least four months, for cases including anti-social behaviour or criminal activity, and the landlord rightly would like to re-let their property to another tenant.

 It’s also been announced that if there is a local lockdown that includes a restriction on gathering in homes, evictions will NOT be enforced by bailiffs

Read about the law changes here.

The council and Nottinghamshire Police are getting more reports of tenants flouting the Coronavirus Regulations, including things like gathering in large groups, not social distancing and these are often coupled with reports of loud parties causing anti-social behaviour. 

As the students return for the start of the new University term, we often see a rise in these issues. As many of you will have seen, Nottinghamshire Police recently fined a student £10,000 for breaking the COVID-19 rules and hosting a large house party.

We know it can be difficult for some landlords to know if parties are being held in their property, but there is a licensing condition that says landlords have a duty to ‘prevent or reduce’ ASB - so we are asking landlords to remind their tenants that they should stay alert and follow social distancing guidelines and remind them the rules on causing ASB. 

The council is working with both Universities to educate students on the rules and how to behave in their neighbourhood too, including a letter that is going to all student addresses in the city.

If you are having ASB issues with your tenants, we can help you, just drop us an email and we can support you - saferhousing@nottinghamcity.gov.uk  

Landlords will be able to apply for Green Homes Grant vouchers from the end of September.

The Government will provide a voucher worth up to £5,000 to help cover the cost of making energy efficient improvements to your home.

Improvements could include insulating your home to reduce your energy use or installing low-carbon heating to lower the amount of carbon dioxide your home produces.

You must redeem the voucher and ensure improvements are completed by 31 March 2021.

Get more info on the scheme here.

The first Landlords Liaison Group meeting is being held on Tuesday 29 September. We will be sharing the minutes and actions from this meeting in the weeks after.

Following this there will be the second Managing Agents in October.

Due to personal circumstances, a number of people have dropped from the groups and we will be going through the past applications and contacting those on the reserve list to see if they would still like to be involved.

Remember you can still see the agenda, minutes and actions from the Agents meeting under the July section on this link.

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