Quick eviction plans unveiled
Thursday, 4 August 2011 4:09 PM
Housing Minister Grant Shapps has today unveiled plans to speed up the process for evicting persistent 'neighbours from hell' from their homes.
Shapps's proposals seek a new mandatory power for possession enabling previous convictions for anti-social behaviour to be taken into account to shorten the long and expensive process which requires landlords to prove 'yobbish' actions of tenants.
Amongst the plan are a range of "trigger" offences which could quicken the eviction process. These are likely to include a conviction for a serious housing-related offence, including violence against neighbours, drug dealing and criminal damage.
A breach of an injunction for anti-social behaviour – where the social landlord has obtained, or is party to, the injunction – is also being proposed as a trigger event, as is use of a closure order on a property, for example where a property has been used for drug dealing.
However, Jonathan Hulley, partner at lawyers Clarke Willmott, warned against the proposal, referring to the case of Cleveland Pinnock who unsuccessfully tried to prevent Manchester City Council evicting him, but whose legal challenge ended with a legal ruling that courts could conduct "proportionality reviews" of demoted tenancy possession claims.
Hulley told Inside Housing: "Whoever is advising the government has not read the Pinnock judgement.
"At some point they are going to grapple with this judgement and the concept of introducing a further mandatory ground for possession in light of this decision."
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