The government is recruiting 1,000 new judges and tribunal members this year as ministers try to stop the Renters’ Rights Act from overwhelming the possession system.
The move was confirmed by courts minister Sarah Sackman KC in a letter to the National Residential Landlords Association, which has been pressing for details on how courts will cope since Section 21 ended on 1 May. Ministers have also confirmed the first stage of a new digital possession service will be rolled out by the end of this year, with full digitisation still targeted for spring 2027.
Every disputed possession case now has to move through a court process that was already under strain before the new regime began. The real test is whether the extra capacity arrives quickly enough to stop delays getting worse.
Possession pressure is already building
The NRLA said the recruitment drive is designed to help courts and tribunals handle the extra caseload created by the post-Section 21 system. Under the current rules, landlords must rely on one of 37 revised possession grounds and, if a tenant does not leave or challenges the claim, the case must go before the courts.
The pressure is already building in the system. The latest Ministry of Justice figures show landlords issued 23,635 possession claims between April and June 2026, up 6 percent on the same quarter a year earlier, while accelerated claims rose 16 percent.
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, said the extra recruitment was welcome but landlords would judge the changes on results rather than announcements. He said confidence would depend on whether possession can be recovered in a straightforward and timely way where there is a legitimate reason to do so.
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s report on ministers ruling out Nightingale courts for landlord possession cases, which showed the government was resisting one emergency route to faster hearings. The latest announcement points instead to more judges, more tribunal members and a digital process as the preferred fix.
Digital filing is meant to cut delays
According to the minister’s letter, the government is creating a centralised hub with two new digital services – one for possession claims and another for the Residential Property Chamber. The new possession route is meant to let landlords file documents, receive updates and get outcomes online rather than rely on physical paperwork moving between court offices.
That could remove one obvious source of delay. Paper forms, missing documents and administrative mistakes have all added time and uncertainty to possession cases. Ministers say digitisation should reduce those risks, although landlords and tenants acting without legal representation will still be able to use paper statements where needed.
The unresolved point is speed. Sackman did not set new end-to-end targets for how quickly a landlord should expect a possession case to move from filing to repossession. That leaves landlords with a promise of structural reform, but not yet a benchmark for whether the system is actually improving. More detail is set out in the NRLA’s report on the minister’s letter.
Tribunal risk has not gone away
The court recruitment announcement also matters because ministers are still working on a separate body to handle challenges to proposed rent increases. If that system is delayed or underpowered, pressure could simply shift from county courts to rent tribunals instead of easing altogether.
Landlords therefore need to watch both tracks. Possession reform is only part of the post-Renters’ Rights Act enforcement picture, and the practical burden will be judged by wait times, paperwork and hearing backlogs rather than headline staffing numbers.
Landlords should also keep an eye on the low-cost rent tribunal route created under the new regime, because tribunal volumes could become the next pinch point if tenants increasingly challenge Section 13 rent rises.
What this means for landlords
- If you may need possession in the next six months: prepare paperwork early and expect courts to keep asking for clear evidence under the revised grounds.
- Watch for: the first stage of the digital possession service by the end of 2026 and any update on full rollout in spring 2027.
- Do not assume faster hearings yet: extra judges matter, but ministers have not published fresh turnaround targets.
- Budget for delay risk: tribunal and court pressure could still affect rent disputes and possession claims at the same time.
Editor’s view
Ministers have finally accepted that the post-Section 21 system needs more than warm words. But landlords do not need another promise of reform – they need a possession route that is measurably quicker, simpler and harder to clog up.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 20 August 2026
Sources: NRLA, Ministry of Justice
Related reading: Government rules out Nightingale courts for landlord possession cases
📘 Renters’ Rights Act: Complete Landlord Guide
Everything you need to know about the new rules – 1 May 2026
