It takes an average of 118 days for court-appointed bailiffs to evict tenants from private landlords properties after bringing a claim to court. Landlords in London are the most likely to have to evict, while those in the South West, North East and West Midlands were least likely to
Planning/management specialist Bliss Events has set a precedent for the industry, designing and developing London’s largest urban beach, at Royal Docks, to incorporate a swimming pool, which opens on July 18 for six weeks, and an August event space. Funded by the GLA and the London Borough of Newham, Bliss
It takes an average of 118 days for court-appointed bailiffs to evict tenants from private landlords properties after bringing a claim to court. Landlords in London are the most likely to have to evict, while those in the South West, North East and West Midlands were least likely to have to go all the way to court to secure their evictions. Landlords can see at a glance how their region fares here. New analysis of government figures by Simple Landlords Insurance shows it took an average of 16.9 weeks from claim to bailiff eviction in the first quarter of 2018. A total of 21,429 possession claims were brought to court last year, of which 6,260 ended in eviction by bailiff. It’s the first time that the length of time it takes for private landlords to evict through the court system has been made public – and it’s been broken down by region and population density so landlords – and tenants – can find out exactly what level of risk they face in each area of England and Wales. Tom Cooper, Director of Underwriting at Simple Landlords Insurance, says: “The good news for everyone is that in 2017 only 0.5% of landlords made a possession claim in court. And only a third of those had to go through to the bitter bailiff end. The bad news is that if it does happen to you, it can cost a lot of money – and not just the average £1,700- £2,000 in legal fees. “We wanted to get a more realistic idea of the impact of the process in terms of lost income, inconvenience, and ongoing legal fees in the worst and longest case scenarios. Just looking at lost rent, there are few landlords who can afford to lose up to 6 months’ worth – the time it takes for a tenant to go into arrears, for them to issue a Section 21 notice, and then for them wait 17 weeks to see the court process through.” Key findings The headlines for landlords include: During 2017, private landlords brought 21,439 possession claims to courts in England and Wales. 27% of claims didn’t receive a court order. Many claims are rejected for failing to follow the correct eviction proceedings. The average insurance payment made for eviction support is £4,341.22, which includes legal expenses and lost rent. Landlords in London are more likely to have to evict a tenant, the figures show. Buy-to-let investors in the capital brought 195.3 claims per 100,000 households last year. Landlords in the South West of England were least likely to bring eviction proceedings to court, with 58.9 claims registered per 100,00 households, followed by the North East and West Midlands. It took longer for social housing providers to evict tenants, with an average claim-to-repossession time of 27.9 weeks vs 16.9 for private landlords. The eviction timeline The Ministry of Justice figures revealed it took an average of 6.9 weeks for a private landlord’s claim to result in the issue of an order requiring a tenant to leave the property. For those whose tenants stayed past the date given on the notice, it took an additional 3.2 weeks from the initial order to the granting of a possession warrant, and a further 6.8 weeks for a bailiff to take possession of the home if the claim went to the final stage making the total 16.9 weeks. Rent arrears and legal expenses Landlords can mitigate the risk of lost income, time and property damage if they have to bring possession proceedings to court with legal expenses insurance and rent guarantee insurance. Legal expenses insurance helps landlords navigate the evictions process, including serving an eviction notice correctly, and legal support in court. Simple Landlords Insurance’s product includes 24/7 access to advice from its legal partners and costs £39.50 per year. Rent guarantee insurance compensates landlords for the income they lose over the many months an eviction process can take, as well as the legal fees for pursuing an eviction through the court system, with premiums from £79.99 a year (based on the monthly rental income a landlord wants to cover). Tom Cooper added: “We know that rent arrears are high up on the list of landlord worries. Possession claims by private landlords have risen by 3.5% in the last two years. Over the same period we’ve seen a 61% increase in take-up of rent guarantee insurance in addition to legal expenses cover as landlords feeling the pinch from tax and regulatory changes try to mitigate the risk of repossession.” More detail on the analysis can be found here.
Planning/management specialist Bliss Events has set a precedent for the industry, designing and developing London’s largest urban beach, at Royal Docks, to incorporate a swimming pool, which opens on July 18 for six weeks, and an August event space. Funded by the GLA and the London Borough of Newham, Bliss partnered with Star Events to plan a set of structures, linked by walkways, and create the first pool proper on the London leg of the Thames. Buoyed by Star’s extensive experience with waterborne projects, Park Live for London 2012, Airbnb’s Floating House on the Thames and several Jaguar Land Rover activations among them, the 2018 Royal Docks’ beach is a massive technical achievement. The pool deck, based around Star’s proprietary VerTech™ sub-structure, incorporates a children’s paddling area and extends existing infrastructure around the beach to cover any hazards hidden by the shingle and prevent ad hoc access to the dock. A sun deck on the water is built from a commercial grade Linkflote system rather than the lightweight plastic and ‘NATO’ type pontoons events typically turn to. As a result, all the floating sections of the structure, which are decked with Star’s standard slip-free stage cover, are every bit as solid as the land-based elements. The sun deck is accessed by two 16.6m by 2.5m floating walkways, which also serve to fix the structure to the land. All are secured by fencing to keep swimmers out of uncontrolled areas and combine to envelop the lido itself. The 22m by 18m pool incorporates various water level swim platforms, lane/depth markers and access ladders. There will be changing rooms, a beach kiosk serving snacks and drinks, and lots of safety signs on the lido, where the water and its approaches have been inspected and passed fit for purpose. The beach is controlled by the site manager, who will be assisted by a security team, lifeguards, a first aid responder and GLA staff. Bliss has also fitted a stretch tent to the lawn areas adjoining the beach, providing shade in the short-term and an event space across the four August weekends. Replete with a licensed bar and food traders it will feature some of London’s best buskers on Friday evenings, film screenings, for kids on Saturday mornings and for families in the evening, a lunchtime barbecue on Sundays and more besides. Anne McLellan, Managing Director at Bliss Events, comments: “This is very much a joint project between Bliss and Star Events. Star has watertight relationships with the likes of Livett’s and other agencies vital to an event like this, along with the kit and the nous to build the lido and the pontoons. “It’s been an incredible, exciting and challenging job to plan and to work on. With great support from the client and from our suppliers we have delivered a real feat of engineering in the shape of fantastic summer venue at the Royal Docks.” Robert Baffour-Awuah, Promotion and Investment Manager for the GLA’s Royal Docks team, says: “The beach is a fixture in the local calendar that’s improving all the time. The Bliss pitch covered everything we’d asked for with innovative but practical responses. Anne understood our vision to present a more ambitious, enhanced offer with strong production values and an engaging programme. “We’d seen examples of floating walkways and floating stages/screens but not this kind of decking, enclosing a managed swimming area. The system is much more affordable than bringing in a temporary swimming pool, it works effectively with the event site we have and it’s really good to pilot new things in the Docks. “It was important to us that this year’s beach event reflected the step change in the story of the Royal Docks and it’s been great to work with Bliss/Star Events. They understand the ambition to ensure that the offer remains attractive to local people while attracting a wider audience from across the borough and the capital.” The 2018 model beach is a flagship event in front of a £314m regeneration plan for the Royal Docks. Money that will support a comprehensive physical, economic and social change in the area over the next five years, creating a potential 35,000 new jobs, building 4,000 new homes and encouraging events, like that beach, that provide invaluable opportunities to bring locals and visitors together.