As a landlord, you may wish to evict a tenant because of nuisance or outstanding rent. If you want to repossess your property from a tenant, you cannot simply change the locks. This is because your tenant has a right of occupation. You will need to go through the following procedure:
- serve the correct notice on the tenant
- issue court proceedings
- obtain a court order
You may evict a tenant only after you have obtained a court order, with the help of court bailiffs.
Note
Before taking steps to recover possession of your property, you should consider discussing any underlying problems with your tenant, either directly or through a mediation service, and try to resolve these without recourse to court action. This could save you time and money. Seeking possession through the courts should only be used if and when you have tried all other means. Claiming possession through the court will cost between £400 and £500, not including legal fees, and will take time to resolve.
This note focuses on landlords letting to tenants on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy or an Assured Tenancy
Rent Arrears
If your tenant has built up rent arrears, you should speak with them to gather more information about their circumstances and how they may be able to pay off their arrears. You can reach a temporary agreement not to seek possession action for some time and instead accept a lower level of rent or agree to a plan to pay off arrears at a later date. It is likely to be cheaper to accept a slightly lower rate of rent, rather than arranging for a new tenant to move in.
Anti-social Behaviour
In some circumstances, you may need to act because your tenants are committing anti-social behaviour. This could be more minor disruptive behaviour, or it could be serious and/or criminal. Whilst possession action is one method of resolving such issues, there are alternative courses of action that you may wish to consider before, or instead of, serving a notice. The police, local authorities and other local agencies have a range of flexible tools and powers that they can use to respond quickly and effectively to anti-social behaviour. These include:
- Civil Injunctions
- Community Protection Notices
- A Closure Power
- Criminal Behaviour Orders
Serving a notice seeking or requiring possession
Tenancies can be brought to an end by either serving a Section 21 or a Section 8 notice under the Housing Act 1988, specifying the date by which you would like your tenant to leave your property. You can serve the notice in one of the following ways:
- Personal service on the tenant
- Posting to the tenant
- Leaving the notice at the property
You will need to provide a copy of the notice to the court as part of your application for possession. You must retain a copy of the document for yourself. Take the copy once you have completed, signed and dated the notice.
A section 21 notice
You can only use a Section 21 notice if your tenants have an assured shorthold tenancy. You cannot use it if your tenants have an assured tenancy. A Section 21 notice is used to ask your assured shorthold tenants to leave your property after a fixed term tenancy ends during a tenancy with no fixed end date, which rolls over at particular intervals of time – for example, on a month by month or week by week basis, known as a ‘periodic tenancy. No reason or ground is required, but you will need to demonstrate that you gave certain information to your tenant and that they hold a relevant licence if required. To give your tenants a Section 21 notice, you must fill in Form 6A.
In England, due to Coronavirus provisions, your Section 21 notice will only be valid if you have given your tenant a minimum of 6 months’ notice to leave if you served your notice on or after 29 August 2020 until at least 31 March 2021. In Wales, due to Coronavirus provisions, your Section 21 notice will only be valid if you have: given the tenant at least 3 months’ notice to leave, if you gave notice from 26 March to 23 July. If you served notice on or after 24 July 2020 until at least 31 March 2021, you must have given your tenant at least 6 months’ notice months’ notice to leave.
A Section 8 notice:
You can use a Section 8 notice if your tenants have both an assured shorthold tenancy and an assured tenancy. You need to specify on the notice the specific grounds you are using to seek possession of your property. This can be mandatory grounds or discretionary grounds.
Mandatory Grounds Discretionary Grounds:
- Owner occupation (prior notice ground)
- Repossession by the lender (prior notice ground)
- Out of season holiday let (prior notice ground)
- Let to students by educational institutions (prior notice ground)
- Minister of religion (prior notice ground)
- Redevelopment
- Death of assured tenant
- Antisocial behaviour
- No right to rent
- Serious rent arrears
Discretionary Grounds:
- Suitable alternative accommodation
- Rent arrears
- Persistent delay in rent payments
- Breach of tenancy obligation
- Deterioration in the condition of the property or common parts
- Nuisance, annoyance, the illegal or immoral use of the property
- Domestic violence
- Offence during a riot
- Deterioration of furniture
- Employee of landlord
- Recovery of possession where the grant is induced by false statement
To give your tenants a Section 8 notice, you must fill in Form 3.
In England, due to Coronavirus provisions, a Section 8 notice given to a tenant from 26 March to 28 August 2020 must have provided them with a notice period of at least 3 months. These provisions have now been extended, therefore notice to be given to a tenant from 29 August 2020 until at least 31 March 2021 must provide a notice period of at least six months in most circumstances. However, there are exceptions to this in instances of anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse.
Issuing court proceedings
If your tenant does not leave by the date specified in the notice, you can apply to the court for a Possession Order. The tenant can submit a defence to the court. In the defence, they may state why a possession order should not be made, put forward a counterclaim, or ask for extra time to vacate. If a defence is received, the court will send you a copy.
Coronavirus Update
You must attach evidence explaining how the coronavirus pandemic has affected you and/or your tenant.
Standard possession claims – Online service
You can use the possession claim online service if you are claiming possession on the grounds of rent arrears. It costs £325 to issue the claim. You can contact the Possession Claim Online help desk if you need help or advice.
Standard possession claims – Paper-based application process
You will need to fill in the paper standard possession claim form (N5) and the Particulars of Claim (Form N119) and post or deliver it to the county court that deals with housing cases for the area in which your tenant’s property is located.
You can use this method for:
- section 8 notices on grounds other than rent arrears e.g., anti-social behaviour or other breaches of tenancy
- section 8 notice on rent arrears grounds but do not have access to or do not wish to use online facilities, or
- section 21 notice but the tenant owes you rent, and you want the court to order possession and make a money order at the same time
It costs £355 to apply. Send a cheque made payable to ‘HM Courts and Tribunals Service’ to the court with your completed paperwork.
Accelerated possession claims
You can apply for an accelerated possession order if your tenants have not left by the date specified in your Section 21 notice and you’re not claiming rent arrears. It costs £355. If you want to claim rent arrears you can use either the standard possession procedure or accelerated procedure to get your property back, then make a separate court claim for the rent arrears.
Obtaining a court order
If you have used the standard possession procedure, you will receive communication providing the date of the review and the date of the substantive possession hearing. You will be allocated a review date at least 28 days before the possession hearing. At the possession hearing, a judge will decide whether to make a possession order or give other case management directions. The judge can make the following kinds of possession orders:
- Outright possession order
This requires your tenant to leave your property by a date specified in the order.
The date will usually be 14 to 28 days after the court hearing, although it could be shorter or longer. Where the order is made on a mandatory ground or under section 21, and if it is a case where the tenant would suffer extreme hardship, the judge can allow the tenant up to a maximum of 6 weeks. - Suspended and postponed orders for possession
This specifies a date for possession, but it also sets out conditions that your tenant is required to abide by. So long as your tenant keeps to the conditions, you will not be able to enforce the possession order. If your tenant breaches the conditions, you can request the court to issue a ‘warrant for possession’ and the court bailiff will then arrange to carry out an eviction. - Possession orders with a money judgment
A judge can add a money judgment to any of the possession orders. This means your tenant owes a specific amount of money, usually made up of:- the rent arrears
- court fees
- your legal costs.
You may be able to appeal to a higher court if you have proper legal grounds – for example if you can show that the decision was wrong because of a serious mistake or because the procedure was not followed properly.
Warrants and bailiffs
If a Possession Order was granted and your tenant does not leave by the date specified in the order, you can apply to the court for a Warrant of Possession. The tenant can apply to suspend the Warrant. A county court bailiff will enforce the warrant and carry out the eviction.
5.27