When the novel coronavirus hit, the Government was concerned about evictions in the midst of a pandemic. The civil courts were faced with managing and prioritising their workload under unprecedented conditions. In England and Wales, a twofold response operated to restrict residential possession claims and evictions.
Oliver Mitchell and Nicholas Evans, both from Guildhall Chambers' Property and Estates team, discuss the statutory response contained in the Coronavirus Act 2020 and the provisions of Practice Direction 51Z, the latter introduced by the Master of the Rolls. They consider how these regimes operate, what the Court of Appeal has said about the practice direction, and how the position might be evolving.
Note that the discussion in this episode took place before the statutory instrument confirming the exact means of extending PD51Z's effect was made on 9 June 2020.
This is discussion, not legal advice, and the views are the contributors' own at the time of recording.
Update history: the originally-uploaded version of this episode featured an issue with the syncing of the audio, which has now been corrected.
Jun 15, 2020
54 min