UK Court Repossession Fees Rise Again — What SA Landlords Can Learn
The Negotiator · Nigel Lewis · 14 July 2026
TL;DR
The UK's Ministry of Justice has increased county court repossession fees from £404 to £415, part of a broader round of 80 fee hikes receiving parliamentary approval. The move comes despite criticism from property lawyers over poor court service delivery. Average eviction costs in the UK now sit at around £3,000, with complex cases reaching £19,000. Property Tribunal fees have seen the sharpest increases, with some leasehold administration fees nearly doubling to £227. The MoJ says the hikes — most by 2.6%, with 27 fees rising by an average of 34% — are intended to recover costs, improve consistency, and account for accumulated inflation. Four fees were reduced where underlying costs had fallen.
Our take
This is a UK story, but it carries a useful mirror for South African landlords and letting agents navigating our own eviction landscape. Local evictions under the PIE Act are already costly, slow, and procedurally demanding — and Rental Housing Tribunals, while free to access, can drag cases out for months. The UK experience shows what happens when court fees rise while service quality stagnates: landlords absorb higher costs with no improvement in turnaround times. SA landlords should take note and budget realistically for eviction proceedings — legal fees, sheriff costs, and lost rental income can easily push total costs well above R50,000 in contested matters. The broader lesson is risk mitigation upfront: thorough tenant screening, identity-verified applications, and well-drafted leases reduce the likelihood of ever needing the courts. For agents, this is a timely reminder to counsel landlord clients on the true cost of a bad tenancy before it starts.
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