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PD 51Z stay on possession claims to be extended – newsflash

05/06/2020

Late on Friday afternoon, Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, tweeted

(Update – more on the announcement here)

I understand the details are as follows.

PD 51Z will be extended in its current form until 23 August 2020

The new rules will clarify that

Time does not run during the stay
Claims can still be issued during this time, and;
The stay does not apply to CPR 55.6 claims (against persons unknown) or for interim possession orders.

A working group on possession proceedings has been established by the Master of the Rolls to ensure appropriate arrangements are in place across the county courts when possession claims resume.

This is a blunt instrument to be sure, but the right thing to do. The county courts are simply not in a position to hear possession proceedings safely and justly, and the public health concerns over evictions that were part of the rationale for the original stay have not diminished significant.

 

 

Giles Peaker is a solicitor and partner in the Housing and Public Law team at Anthony Gold Solicitors in South London. You can find him on Linkedin and on Twitter. Known as NL round these parts.

10 Comments

  1. Ben Reeve-Lewis

    Wowzer. This is going to be interesting

    Reply
  2. John

    Presumably S13 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 could still be used to get rid of a troublesome tenant. Would you be able to re-let the room without waiting 5 months+ for a possession hearing though?

    Reply
  3. john

    Excellent news, the possession order that we have that expired in early March (the tenant didn’t leave following the usual unlawful advice from the LA) and is now extended by a further two months and we lose a further two months rent at least, because you can be certain that the Court bailiffs won’t be moving very quickly or at all when they are needed to. I trust that Jenrick will be getting his cheque book out to compensate us for these further losses (about £6k) on top of the £9.5k that has already been lost. They’ve had three months to come up with something more subtle than this continued farce.

    Reply
  4. Jenny

    What exactly does it mean where you say – “Time does not run during the stay”?

    Reply
    • Giles Peaker

      Eg. Claim is filed and served. Usually then 14 days to file an acknowledgement or defence. That time does not run. So would now be 14 days from the end of the stay.

      Reply
  5. Jenny

    Thank you

    Reply
  6. John (not john)

    So any notice issued several months ago would effectively be extended by the stay but would a new notice issued just before the stay still expire in three months as opposed to three months plus the length of the stay during which time does not run (i.e.five months)? I would have assumed the former but “time does not run” does suggest the latter if taken more literally.

    Reply
    • Giles Peaker

      Notice length and the ability to issue claims is unaffected. The stay only applies post issue.

      Reply
  7. Moreen Albazii

    i just got my letter from court says. As this claim is stayed (PD 51Z) it is removed from the list for hearing which it was today
    do i need to do anything or just wait for another hearing i really don’t understand

    Reply
    • Giles Peaker

      Nothing will happen until 24 August. The court should then start re-listing hearings.

      Reply

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