Date Published 04 May 2021
Changes have been made to evictions legislation today that mean letting agents will now have to ensure their paperwork is up to date or risk having evictions rejected by courts.
From Today (May 4th) onwards Section 8 eviction notices must include details of the government's ‘breathing space' debt scheme within the paperwork to be compliant.
Announced last year, the Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space) gives tenants in problem debt the right to legal protections from their creditors for up to 60 days.
These regulations come into force as of today, which is why the ministry of housing has inserted an amendment into the relevant legislation.
The basic position is that if a tenant has a qualifying debt, such as rent arrears, they can see an FCA or local authority authorised debt advisor and apply for a debt moratorium.
This gives them an eight-week breathing space from being chased for the amount owed while they work with the debt adviser to restructure their finances to pay their debts.
The tenant should still pay their rent during this period.
If you have questions about the Section 8 changes, even if you're not a client of ours, get in touch as we'd love to help.
