Landlords are having to wait up to eight weeks to enforce possession of their properties from non-paying tenants, according to a new report. The result is thousands of pounds lost in unpaid rents and the risk of properties being trashed and left uninhabitable, further adding to the property owners woes.

Research by the specialist enforcement company Shergroup, has highlighted serious delays between the time taken from a possession order being granted to the point that a court bailiff is available to evict the tenant.

High Wycombe, Huddersfield, Ilford, Leigh, Romford, Salford, Slough, Willesden and Woolwich County Courts all admitted delays of up to eight weeks and the problem could get worse as the full impact of the spending cuts is felt, according to Shergroup Chief Executive, Claire Sandbrook.

“Court resources are being stretched, and in the busiest courts they are no longer able to deliver an enforcement service that could in any way be considered reasonable,” she says. “And with budgets being cut by 25%, and the number of tenants falling into arrears likely to rise, the problem is only going to get worse,” said Sandbrook.

All [167] County Courts were surveyed and asked how soon a bailiff could be available to enforce an eviction. Timeframes varied depending on the size of the court, and the volume of cases they were obliged to handle. Some of the smaller courts, such as Aberdare, could respond within seven days; others could not give an answer at all, either because they didn