Important Legal Update: Temporary amendment to Civil Procedure Rules 1998


A temporary amendment to the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 has been announced to manage the resumption of possession proceedings when the “moratorium evictions” ends on 23 August 2020.

The changes to the usual possession proceedings process mean you’ll need to be prepared, providing a reactivation notice to the court and tenant.

What’s changed?

  • Landlords must notify the Court and tenant in writing that they wish to proceed with their stayed eviction claim by sending a reactivation notice.
  • Landlords must provide relevant information about the tenant’s circumstances to allow the Court to have regard to the tenant’s vulnerability, disability etc.
  • The standard period between issue of a claim form and hearing (usually no more than eight weeks) will be suspended to spread out hearings appropriately with regard to court capacity.

Read the full notice here. The temporary amendment will apply in England and Wales until 28 March 2021, although the changes may be reviewed before then.

If you need advice on how to proceed, contact our legal team now.