The founder of Landlord Action, Paul Shamplina, has warned that the bailiff system in England is on the brink of a major crisis after Government officials confirmed more and more possessions are being halted or delayed. 

The Ministry of Justice says the problems are due to County Court-appointed bailiffs being found not to have sufficient Personal Protection Equipment, and that evictions cannot go ahead until this problem is fixed. 

Delays were first reported in London but the problem is reportedly spreading outside of the capital to other County Courts. Shamplina says: “This is just the beginning and without intervention the problem is going to get worse and worse. The historic lack of investment in the courts is now being compounded by changes in regulations and rising interest rates, sparking landlord panic. This is before Section 21 is abolished and more eviction cases end up in the courts.” 

His firm is calling on judges at County Courts to start granting leave to transfer more eviction cases with serious arrears to the High Court to share the burden of a rapidly rising workload, as an increasing number of County Court bailiff evictions are being suspended.