The amount of time it takes a landlord to evict abusive tenants will be cut by half, says the Prime Minister as part of a wide-ranging clampdown on anti-social behaviour.  

“Anti-social behaviour undermines the basic right of people to feel safe in the place they call home”, adds Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the launch of the government’s Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan.  

He points out: “The public have rightly had enough – which is why I am determined to restore people’s confidence that those responsible will be quickly and visibly punished.”  

As part of a broad £160m package of measures the government says it will “seek to halve the delay between a private landlord serving notice for anti-social behaviour and eviction and broaden the disruptive and harmful activities that can lead to eviction”.  

The government says it will make “the notice period two weeks for all anti-social behaviour eviction grounds” as part of its reforms for renters.   

It adds that it will make sure that landlords are aware of existing tools – such as injunctions and Criminal Behaviour Orders – to crack down on anti-social tenants.  

Currently, landlords must give two months’ notice and wait for the end of a fixed-term lease to carry out a Section 21 eviction notice.  

The action plan adds that it will expand discretionary grounds for eviction, to make anti-social behaviour easier to prove in court by clarifying that any behaviour ‘capable’ of causing ‘nuisance or annoyance’ can lead to eviction.  

The government says it will work with judges to speed up the eviction of anti-social tenants, and explore how to prioritise anti-social behaviour cases in court possession lists.  

It says it will bring forward legislation that will set out the principles that judges must consider when making decisions on anti-social behaviour, “such as giving weight to the impact on landlords, neighbours, and housemates and whether the tenant has failed to engage with other interventions to manage their behaviour”.  

The plan adds that it will prevent short-term lets from “importing anti-social behaviour into communities, such as noise problems or drunken and disorderly behaviour”.   

The government will set up a new registration scheme giving local authorities data to identify short-term lets with a history of disturbances in their area.   

It adds: “If a let proves problematic, they [the local authority] can take action against guests and owners.”   

The government says it will publish a consultation on the registration scheme shortly.  

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove adds that the government “will intervene directly to prevent high street dereliction”.  

The move is part of a package to cut down on anti-social behaviour and social blights across the country that range from tackling petty crime, taking nitrous oxide or “laughing gas”, to reopening empty shops.