Some UK housing charities are calling for the government to speed up the eviction process so that landlords can reclaim their properties sooner. As a result, landlords and representatives of a few housing charities have been asked to attend a government working group to discuss the issue and, hopefully, come up with some potential solutions.
The Pain of Evicting a Tenant
Evicting tenants can be a real pain in the neck. In fact it isn’t unheard of for the entire eviction process to take up to 12 months, which when you have no rental income is disastrous for your cash flow. When a landlord has a mortgage to pay, no rent can soon spell disaster, and in the long term can affect a landlord’s credit rating.
Experts in the lettings industry believe that landlords everywhere will welcome a streamlining of the eviction process. Most landlords want to get rid of problem tenants as fast as possible so that they can replace them with good tenants. This would also help good tenants find new accommodation by ensuring a swift removal of bad tenants who invariably clog up properties for a long time.
Encourage New Landlords
New landlords are more likely to enter the rental market if they are able to evict problem tenants swiftly since having a problem tenant when you only have one property is fatal.
The best way to prevent problem tenants in the first place is to conduct a background check, pay for a credit report, and ask for comprehensive references from previous landlords and employers. It isn’t a fool proof method, but it will help minimise the risk.
