One of England’s busiest civil and family courts revealed to its regular users that it is preparing to begin listing possession hearings once again on Monday 29 June, giving a strong indication that this will be the date when most other courts in England are also likely to begin hearing cases again.

This would suggest that the government may not extend its legislative evictions ban past the end of June after a three month hiatus, if the courts system is now getting ready to hear both existing and new possession cases once more.

Barnet County Court has confirmed that it is planning to list possession hearings again from the 29th of June onwards, both for cases that have remained in the pipeline and for new cases, unless told to do otherwise by the Master of the Rolls. But Barnet Council is reportedly worried that many large portfolio landlords are not yet ready to restart possession claims as many of their staff may have been furloughed, and many others are still deciding whether it’s worth evicting tenants who have fallen behind with their rental payments.