Advice for landlords wanting to evict tenant

A landlord who has signed up to an assured shorthold tenancy will be entitled to evict tenant/s from their property under the conditions of the Housing Act, once a fixed term tenancy has ended or at any point throughout the course of a periodic tenancy, providing that the occupants have lived in the rental property for no less than 6 months since the beginning of the original tenancy agreement. This is usually termed as gaining possession through the accelerated possession procedure and is the fastest method to evict tenant/s legally.

The opening action in the accelerated possession procedure is for a landlord to serve a notice by virtue of section 21. Nevertheless, there are certain conditions which must be satisfied and landlords should be mindful of these conditions so that they can evict tenant/s legally.

Click Here To Use The Free Section 21 Notice Creator

Evict Tenant - Accelerated Possession Procedure

Prior to starting any possession claim employing the accelerated possession procedure, landlords must ensure that;

• The deposit has been put into a tenancy deposit scheme authorized by the Government.

• Any notice served on the tenant was in compliance with section 21 of the Housing Act. A legally written notice should have been served on the tenant; if the first tenancy agreement at the beginning of the tenant's residence, stated it was an assured shorthold tenancy. This still applies even when the original tenancy agreement with the tenant was dated from January 15th 1989 to February 28th 1997. Prior to that date, landlords needed to have served a notice on the tenants according to the 1987 Landlord & Tenant Act, section 48, providing the tenants with an address where they can contact the landlord. This requirement is easily satisfied where the tenancy agreement contains the contact address for the landlord.

• There is an assured shorthold tenancy written agreement with tenants and that stamp duty has been paid; if the tenancy started previous to December 1st 2003.

• Where the property is a HMO or is located in an area assigned for licensing; a license has been obtained or is currently being applied for.

• Landlords will be required to make available a duplicate of any section 21 served if they do commence possession proceedings; therefore a landlord should retain copies of the served notice along with any other proof that it has been received by the tenants; such as recorded delivery receipts.

• A landlord must give a copy of the section 21 notice to every tenant when there is more than one tenant residing in the rental dwelling. This is not a mandatory requirement, but this is a sensible action so that the landlord can prove that every tenant was provided with the required period of notice.

Evict Tenant – Seek Assistance

Should any of the above conditions not be demonstrated then any claim for recovery of the property under the accelerated procedure is liable to collapse. Landlords are advised to always seek help on how to evict tenant/s to ensure that their claim is upheld by the courts.