COVID-19: The Law Behind the Lockdown

On Monday 23 March 2020 the Prime Minister announced strict new rules on leaving your home in response to the escalating Covid-19 pandemic. In the days that followed various government ministers stressed that these new rules were not a request, they were instructions. But where does the power for ministers to set these rules come from?  

The Coronavirus Act 2020 grants wide ranging powers to the government, including the power to make further regulations including ordering shops and pubs to close and limiting social contact.

These powers were used to create The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 on 26 March 2020, giving legal effect to the lockdown announced by the Prime Minister. These Regulations make it an offence to leave your home except for specific activities permitted by the Regulations.

The Regulations permit individuals ‘to move house where reasonably necessary’. An indication of the circumstances constituting a ‘reasonably necessary’ house move was given by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government in guidance issued on 26 March 2020, which states:

• Buyers are renters should delay moving house until after the lockdown measures have been lifted, where possible
• If contracts have been exchanged (and the property is occupied), parties should work together and agree to delay completion, where possible
• If the property being purchased is unoccupied, buyers can continue with the transaction whilst following social distancing guidelines. Conveyancers should support transactions involving vacant properties wherever possible  

Further advice was subsequently issued to Solicitors by the Law Society on 29 March 2020. This guidance states:

• Public health must remain the priority
• Completions involving occupied properties should only take place if contracts have already been exchanged and the parties involved have been unable to agree an alternative moving date
• Home moves involving unoccupied properties can continue as long as all parties adhere to guidance from Public Health England.
• Client’s instructions must be followed ‘if it’s legally possible to do so’

If you are in the process of moving house, your conveyancer will advise you on a case-by-case basis. Please call our team on 0113 264 4414 or email conveyancing@emsleys.co.uk.