It has been recently announced that the “overall arrangements for possession proceedings” (such as review hearings, prioritisation of specific types of possession claims etc.) came to an end on 1 November 2021.
The arrangements detailed how the court system would manage housing possession cases after the stay on such cases was lifted in September 2020. This means that the procedures for possession are those set out in the relevant Rules and Practice Directions only, including Practice Direction 55C which remains in force. In addition, where direction orders have been made these will still need to be followed unless the Court notifies otherwise.
Further, the announcement also states that ‘listing policies… are a matter for Designated Civil Judges to decide in the light of local conditions’ so there is likely to be regional variation to how listing possession claims are to be dealt with moving forwards.
The Master of the Rolls’ announcement can be found in full here.
Lee Russell, Partner in the Housing Management and Property Litigation team, fed into the working group that helped inform the arrangements on behalf of the Social Housing Law Association.
For further information about this update, please contact Lee Russell or Arjen Xani.
