Allow Landlords to evict tenants where there are 14 days rent arrears

You can't go into a supermarket and steal your weeks groceries. There are laws in place to protect shop keepers large and small. Not paying rent is also theft with the Landlord being the victim. In Australia, tenants can be evicted for being 14 days in arrears with rent. Lets have that system here.

The current system is unfair to Landlords. If a Tenant doesn't pay rent then it can take a year for Landlord to regain procession. In that time the Landlord still has to pay mortgage and other costs. This can ruin many small scale Landlords. Further more, it incentives Landlords to only rent their properties to tenants with higher than average income who are likely to care about getting a bad credit rating. Lets have an Australian style system which aims to be nutral between Landlord and Tenant.

We recognise the important role that landlords play in providing homes to millions of people nationwide. Under Section 8 and Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988, private landlords can seek possession for rent arrears of any value. For arrears under two months, there are two grounds available – ground 10 applies where any level of rent arrears may have occurred and ground 11 covers persistent late payment of rent. These grounds are discretionary; the Judge will decide whether it is in the interests of all parties to award possession. For possession to be guaranteed, ground 8 allows for possession where there are at least two months/eight weeks of rent arrears. Prior to 26 March 2020, landlords were required to give tenants a minimum of two weeks’ notice before seeking possession under any of these rent arrears grounds.

Landlords are also able to seek possession of property under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 for any reason after a fixed-term tenancy has ended, the court must award possession if technical and safety requirements have been met. Prior to 26 March 2020, landlords were required to give tenants a minimum of 2 months’ notice before seeking possession under Section 21.

In order to protect public health given COVID-19, since 29 August 2020, landlords have been required to give tenants six months’ notice, except in the most egregious circumstances. The temporary measures the Government has implemented seek to support the most vulnerable renters and protect public health over winter, whilst ensuring that landlords can exercise their right to justice in the most serious cases.