Evicting a tenant. What options does a residential landlord have?
We receive a lot of enquiries from landlords – and lettings agents – about repossessing houses and flats. Sometimes it is for reasons as simple as needing to sell an investment property with vacant possession but it can be for other reasons. Like the caller we had the other day.
Our client was a landlord who had received complaints from neighbours about his tenant. The tenant was known as a hoarder and there were concern about this, but more strikingly, the tenant had been causing trouble by yelling at neighbours and making “bomb threats”. Yes. Bomb threats. In Devon. The police had been involved but there was little they could do.
Understandably, the landlord was concerned about the state of his property given the hoarding allegations. Upsetting the locale was not in the landlord’s best interests either.
All recent residential tenancies are covered by the Housing Act 1988 (as amended) which allows repossession under s8 provided grounds can be proved. There are 10 mandatory grounds (where, if shown, the court MUST grant possession) and 11 discretionary grounds (where the court MAY grant possession).
There is a ground for evicting a tenant for anti-social behaviour, but unfortunately, there needs to be a conviction for it to be a mandatory ground. So instead, we are looking at the discretionary grounds: possibly Ground 12 if any actions are a breach of the tenancy, Ground 13 if the condition of the property has been allowed to deteriorate (eg. Hoarding) or, more likely, Ground 14, causing a nuisance to those in the area.
The problem is that these are discretionary grounds, so even if established, the court does not have to grant repossession. Given the difficulty in obtaining rented accommodation these days, a promise to “do better” and to tidy up the premises is not something that the court will dismiss out of hand – unless the offences are disagreeably heinous.
But s8 Housing Act grounds are not the only way to obtain possession of rented property.
s21 Housing Act is probably better known by its other name: Accelerated Possession.
Put simply, provided a landlord has complied with all the regulations and the paperwork is in order, two months’ notice can be served on the tenant and then a “no fault” paper application can be made to the court. Provided everything is in order, the Court MUST make a possession order.
There are pros and cons with each course of action. Using s8 Grounds requires a hearing and you have to prove your grounds; s21 is a paper application, but get the paperwork wrong and you are back to using s8.
How we can help with evicting a tenant
Of course, the above is just very general guidance and each case must be considered on its own facts. You should seek legal advice on your specific circumstances from a specialist solicitor.
Our team is here to help and can offer initial guidance on your options free of charge. Just call us on 0333 888 0404 or send an email to [email protected]
