Property law & the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction

At this stage of the pandemic, it feels trite to say that the impact upon property law has been both profound and unprecedented. Even the devastating financial crash of 2008 did not have the same all-encompassing impact on the day-to-day use of property of all types. Faced with this crisis, the immediate focus has, of necessity, been on the rapidly implemented procedural restrictions (to say nothing of the practical problems of conducting litigation in lockdown). The general stay on possession proceedings implemented via PD 51Z has already been considered three times by the Court of Appeal: (London Borough of Hackney v Okoro [2020] EWCA Civ 681, [2020] All ER (D) 154 (May); Arkin v Marshall [2020] EWCA Civ 620, [2020] All ER (D) 65 (May); TFS Stores Limited v The Designer Retail Outlet Centres (Mansfield) General Partner Limited [2020] EWCA Civ 833). The moratorium on forfeiture for