Evicting Tenants – Legal Process

Landlords wanting to learn about evicting tenants from a rental dwelling should know that there are specific legal actions to take, in compliance with the 1988 Housing Act.

Evicting Tenants – Using Section 21

An accelerated possession procedure is the quickest way of evicting tenants and comprises of the serving of a notice citing section 21. If tenants fail to depart once a landlord has served this notice and it has since expired, then the landlord can ask for a warrant to evict their tenants.

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This route can usually be employed by a landlord at the conclusion of a fixed term within a tenancy or at any point in a periodic tenancy, with the restriction that the tenants must have lived in the rental dwelling for at least 6 months since the commencement of the original tenancy agreement. Nonetheless if you follow the accelerated possession route, a court cannot order the tenants to settle any rent arrears. Alternatively landlords can make a request to the county court for the settlement of any outstanding rent.

When landlords issue a repossession notice during a periodic tenancy that follows a fixed term, there is an extra requirement. According to the stipulations of the Housing Act, a periodic tenancy will be in place once the fixed term ends. This notice must still provide tenants with a notice period of no less than two months; nevertheless, this notice must provide a date which should be the final day in a tenancy period.

If this date is stated erroneously, the notice will be unacceptable, and any claim for repossession reliant on it cannot be enforced. A notice citing section 21 can stay in position until further notice or a new tenancy agreement is agreed with the tenant; as in the wake of any new tenancy agreement, a landlord must serve a fresh notice citing section 21.

Evicting Tenants – Court Orders

If the tenant does not vacate the rental dwelling by the date specified in the notice citing section 21; the landlord should then go via a court to acquire a repossession order.

On the other hand, so long as there are rent arrears of greater than two months, landlords can elect to cite outstanding rent as their grounds for evicting tenants. Any landlord will need to issue a section 8 notice in the right form before starting court proceedings and the mandatory notice period of 2 weeks must also have expired. Landlords can then employ the usual possession proceeding which is dubbed a "fixed date action". The court will determine a hearing date and landlords must attend this hearing as they need to present evidence to the court regarding the rent owed currently at the hearing.

The landlord can still ask the court for an eviction warrant if the tenants do not move out and the court will then set up bailiffs to evict the tenant. A landlord in this scenario may also reclaim back from the tenant any expenses for the court's involvement.