Courts in the capital take the longest in the country to deal with landlord repossession cases.
Courts across London are failing to cope with the volume of landlord repossession cases they are hearing, the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has found via a Freedom of Information request.
The average length of time from a claim from a landlord in London to a court issuing an order for a property to be repossessed for legitimate reasons is 30 weeks.
This is up from 23 weeks in 2018.
The RLA has warned that without reform and greater funding for the courts, the time taken to process cases will only get worse as ministers prepare to end Section 21 ‘no explanation’ repossessions.
John Stewart, policy manager for the RLA, said: “If landlords feel that they might have to wait forever to regain possession of their property where they have good reason, such as tenants committing anti-social behaviour or failing to pay their rent, increasing numbers are going to feel it is not worth the risk of letting the property out in the first place.
“This will just add to the already growing shortage of investment in rented housing which is badly needed to meet a rising demand.
“The RLA was delighted when the government consulted on its proposal for a housing court a year ago but nothing has happened since.
“It needs to get on and get it set up for the benefit of landlords and tenants alike.”
Landlords in London have the longest wait in the country followed by those in the North East who have to wait an average of 23.5 weeks.
