This is not new, it's been that way pretty well forever.
So far as I recall form my school-days (sixty years ago) it can only be used with a court order, which is pretty well unheard of.
This is not new, it's been that way pretty well forever.
The linked document (from Parliament itself)) explains that the current procedure has been in place since the Ballot Act 1872. I can't confirm that - my experience only goes back to 1970!
Is this a new wheeze? I've bought about a dozen houses over the years and never been asked.