The government has brought in emergency rules putting a hold on evictions in England until January 11, apart from where tenants had already built up substantial arrears before  the pandemic.

The new legislation, which came into force today, makes an exception allowing evictions to proceed where tenants had already built up nine months or more of arrears before the first lockdown began on March 23.

Further exceptions allow for possession orders to be carried out in circumstances where there has been domestic violence, squatting, anti-social behaviour, the death of a tenant or criminal activity.

It is not yet known whether the Welsh Assembly will bring in similar rules.

The ruling follows calls from across the housing sector for the government to provide legal clarity over its block on evictions.

Prior to the justice secretary Robert Buckland had written to bailiff and enforcement bodies asking them to put evictions on hold, but one law firm was seeking a judicial review of that move, arguing that it had no legal standing.

JMW Solicitors partner David Smith, who launched the legal action on behalf of two landlord clients, says: “The legislative drafters were clearly burning the midnight oil as they sought to rush out some regulations to make the unlawful process lawful.”

Smith says the new rules are “a bit of a mess” and he believes they have been hurried out following his threat of court action.

The National Residential Landlords Association is also unhappy with the government’s approach

The group believes the government should be offering financial support to tenants who have been adversely affected by the pandemic to help them clear their rent arrears.

The rules state that until January 11, possession orders for rent arrears can only be enforced where a tenant has amassed nine months or more of missed payments before March 23.

Any amount built up since March will not be taken into account.

The NRLA says this means that tenants can accrue 18 months’ of arrears “without sanction”.

Chief executive Ben Beadle says: “In trying to arrive at a compromise the Government has failed to help those in genuine need whilst rewarding those whose arrears have nothing to do with the pandemic, and in some cases are wilfully not paying their rent.

“This is doing nothing to help those tenants who are trying to do the right thing and seeking to pay off their debts.

“Instead of prolonging the problem with short-term fixes, the government needs to urgently bring in a financial package to enable tenants to pay off rent arrears.”

Anthony Gold Solicitors partner in the housing department Giles Peaker, who blogs as Nearly Legal, describes the new rules as “messy” and questions whether enforcement officers will be willing or able to scrutinise a tenant’s schedule of arrears to determine whether they were built up before March 23 or not.

He adds: “Quite why the proclaimed public health protection purpose of these regulations is overridden by ‘substantial arrears’ is a mystery to me, as so far the Coronavirus has not shown a tendency to shun people with rent arrears, but logical consistency is probably too much to hope for.”

Generation Rent director Alicia Kennedy says: “It’s welcome that the winter truce on bailiff action now has a legal footing – but renters are still getting eviction notices this Christmas, and many will feel pressure to move out when it’s not safe to do so. 

“Government figures show that around 378,000 families aren’t getting enough money in benefit to pay their rent. 

“They will be going without essentials, borrowing money or getting into rent arrears, putting them at risk of eviction.”