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Landlord Advice UK - Helping Landlords Throughout England, Wales and Scotland

TENANT EVICTION UK

Check to see if your residential tenancy attracts stamp duty. If it does you must pay the duty as a tenancy that has not been stamped could be deemed as inadmissible by the court. Many tenancies do not attract stamp duty and often judges do not request evidence of stamp duty paid. Never the less you should comply should your tenancy attract stamp duty, the duty is very nominal in value.

If you have taken a deposit from your tenants after 6th of April 2007 than the deposit must be protected within 14 days of taking the deposit. Warning: If you have not protected the deposit and you are seeking possession under section 21 notice, it is likely the courts will dismiss your claim because the deposit was not protected.

When you submit your claim for possession to the court you may experience a slight delay, worse in some courts than others.

The time taken to force a tenant to give up possession will depend at which stage of the proceedings the tenant is motivated to move. The defaulting tenant may decide to move once he receives a court summons. Others will be more difficult, often waiting until a possession order is granted, or at worst, until evicted by the bailiff following execution of the warrant for possession.

Each step may involve a delay and the complete process can generally take between three to five months from start to finish. Since 15th October 2001 allocation of cases can be fast track, multi track or small claims (if both parties agree). These rules indicate that the following will be considered in determining allocation: the amount of rent arrears, the importance of the defendant retaining possession and the importance of vacant possession to the claimant. The delays occur as follows

(1) Notice of proceedings (minimum two weeks normally) 14 days (2) Average time between filing proceedings and hearing date 6 to 8 weeks (3) Possession order (if granted as an absolute order) 14 days Total = 3 month

A landlord seeking possession of an assured shorthold tenant under the Housing Act 1988 must tell the tenant that it is his intention to start court proceedings by serving a notice on him. You can use the section 21 route or the section 8 route. A notice issued under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 must be served in the prescribed form - often referred to as a 'section 8' or ''Form 3" (as described by the regulations). Note the section 8 notice is a prescribed notice.

It is important that the notice is correctly completed and served. If there are technical errors in the notice, the court is entitled to suspend or strike out the claim.

Finally, it is not expensive to issue a section 8 notice and getting the notice out at the earliest opportunity wins time for the landlord. The notice can always be withdrawn should the rent be subsequently forthcoming. If it is withdrawn this should be in writing.

A section 8 notice may be served by post or in person. If there is more than one tenant, the notice must be served on all tenants. The court will calculate from the day of posting and establish as the day on which the notice would normally have arrived. We suggest that a colleague witnesses the sending of the notice. When using postal service, it is recommended that the notice be sent by either registered or recorded delivery and that a minimum of three working days is allowed for the notice to arrive.

Once you have issued the section 8 notices on your tenant, you are required to wait until the notice has expired - this is the date given on the notice. If the tenant has not vacated, or paid up any rent arrears by the date given in the notice, then it will be necessary to start court possession proceedings.

Seeking possession under section 21 you can use the Accelerated possession route. In order to use this route you must have the following documents: (1) written tenancy agreement (2) section 21 notice (3) evidence for the service of the section 21 notice on the tenant

For accelerated possession procedure provided the judge is satisfied with the documents (your claim) the tenant or the landlord will not be required to attend court.

For the section 8 route you will need various documents, the documents needed depends on the grounds claimed. The court will list the matter and you will have a court hearing. Landlord and tenant will need to attend. Warning - landlords with disrepair issues should beware of the fact that a tenant can make a counterclaim against you. You should ensure there is no disrepair issue’s unresolved before considering the section 8 route for possession.


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