There are many reasons why a Landlord of residential property may wish to recover possession from a tenant. Perhaps a tenant is in serious rent arrears or they have committed a criminal offence at the property. A Landlord may even chose to sell the property with vacant possession. If a Landlord decides that possession is required for any reason, then they must serve notice under either section 21 or section 8 of the Housing Act 1988.
Currently, Landlords are able to terminate an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement under Section 21 of the Act for any reason. A Landlord must serve proper Notice on the tenant requiring them to vacate the property within two months. If the tenant does not leave the property in accordance with the Notice, then an application for a Possession Order can be made to a local County Court using the accelerated procedure.
Typically, a hearing will not be required unless the tenant files a defence or a Judge raises concerns about the tenancy documentation. The accelerated procedure is known to be quicker and more cost effective for Landlords for this reason. Once a Possession Order has been granted, a tenant will usually be given 14 days to vacate the property. If the tenant fails to leave the property in accordance with the Order, the bailiffs can be instructed to forcibly remove the tenant from occupation.
This is set to change in the near future under the Renters (Reform) Bill which proposes to abolish these “no fault” evictions. Landlords will no longer be able to seek to recover possession by serving a Section 21 Notice. This is set to be a fundamental change for Landlords in England and Wales who wish to end a tenancy agreement.
Unless a tenant terminates the tenancy, a Landlord will in future only be able to recover possession under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988. This Notice can only be served on a tenant who has broken the terms of the tenancy agreement. A Notice must define the mandatory and discretionary grounds relied upon. For example, a tenant may have defaulted on their rent payments, committed a serious offence at the property or caused damage to the furniture described in the inventory. The Landlord must provide a minimum of two weeks’ notice, depending on the ground relied upon.
The Landlord must make an application to Court seeking possession under the standard procedure once the notice period has ended. A hearing will be required in all cases, even when a defence has not been filed. This means that the time it takes from a Landlord serving Notice to obtaining a Possession Order is longer, which can be a significant problem for Landlords when a tenant is not paying rent. One advantage of using the standard procedure is the potential recovery of rent arrears. At the hearing, the Landlord can ask the Judge to make an Order for Possession and payment of arrears. This is not possible after serving a Section 21 Notice unless a separate claim is made against the tenant.
The Renters (Reform) Bill has been delayed indefinitely as improvements to the Court system are required in order to facilitate this change in the law. Until the Bill is passed, Landlords can continue to serve Section 21 Notices and recover possession of their property using the accelerated procedure.
If you require any advice or assistance in connection with the recovery of residential property then please feel free to contact a member of our Dispute Resolution team of specialists based in Bishop Auckland and Darlington.
