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Are you a landlord unsure of how the Corona Virus Act 2020 affects you? Below we outline the key points you need to watch out for. 1. Changes to current private landlord and tenant law Under the Housing Act 1988, any notice issued under section 8 or 21 must provide notice of not less than 3 months. Previously, the requirement for section 8 was 2 weeks and section 21 was 2 months. 2. Evictions Despite discussions and the governments promise to ban evictions during the three month period, this new legislation does not ban private landlords from serving notice seeking possession or from issuing proceedings within the Relevant Period. 3. Rent a. There is an expectation that Landlords and Tenants should work out an arrangement if they can not pay rent during this period, and an affordable payment plan should be agreed, yet there is no Pre-Action protocol in place for landlord and tenant proceedings. b. Rent due during the period, whether an agreement is in place, remains as rent legally due. c. Under schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 the grounds for recovering possession are unchanged. 4. Notices already served If you served a notice before 26th March 2020, you will be unaffected by the Corona Virus Act 2020. Once they have expired, you may issue proceedings. Also unaffected by the Act are possession orders, which remain enforceable. This means that you may make the application for warrant of possession however, be aware that courts are cancelling bailiff appointments that are already scheduled and not carrying out evictions. With this in mind, it is important to understand that many courts are adjourning hearings until later in the year. This will mean that there will likely be further delays to evictions, which are currently not allowed by many courts, and a delay to the rescheduling of the hearings due to the high number scheduled due to Corona Virus. If you would like further information, or you have a query on the impact of Corona Virus on you as a Landlord or tenant, please get in touch via the button below.