David Cox, Chief Executive, ARLA Propertymark, comments on the Secretary of State for Housing’s announcement

David Cox, Chief Executive, ARLA Propertymark, comments on the Secretary of State for Housing’s announcement on Tuesday morning that the Government has issued a Call for Evidence for a specialist Housing Court:

“We welcome today’s news and are pleased the Government is finally listening to the industry. We have long urged Government to take an holistic approach to the laws governing the private rented sector, and are optimistic that today’s announcement is an acknowledgement of the necessity for this approach. For example, in order to address the issue of long-term tenancies, we need a properly functioning court system. The creation of a Housing Court would be a huge leap forward for landlords, tenants and agents alike, and have a wholly positive impact on the sector.”

Given the bottleneck that is happening in the courts and with possession proceedings, in the main, taking longer and longer, having a specialist court dedicated to housing would be a blessing for all landlords and agents. A Court dedicated to an area of law that is getting more complex and extensive, needs to have people dealing with the problems who have a clear and in depth understanding of the issues before them. Phil