Regaining possession of your property from tenants can be a complex process, and failing to follow the correct steps can lead to fines or, in severe cases, imprisonment. Our expert landlord and tenant solicitors specialise in house possession claims and have an excellent track record of securing our clients the return of their properties.
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What Is House Possession?
When you rent your house to tenants, you retain ownership of it, but the tenants benefit from a suite of legal rights, including to live in the property undisturbed and protection from unfair eviction and unfair rent. Accordingly, despite being the legal owner of the property, you cannot simply take back possession at will. Instead, you need to follow the correct house possession process.
How Can You Regain House Possession?
Landlords must adhere to a strict procedure when taking back house possession, a general overview of which is as follows:
• Serve your tenants with the appropriate notice.
The first crucial step in all house possession claims is to determine which notice you need to serve on the tenant. The two main house possession notices are section 21 notices and section 8 notices.
Section 21 notices apply to no-fault evictions, and you must use one when you want to regain house possession, but the tenant is not in breach of their tenancy agreement. You must give your tenant at least two months’ notice of a no-fault eviction.
Section 8 notices apply when the tenant has breached their tenancy agreement, for example, by damaging your property or failing to pay rent. The amount of notice you should give a tenant when serving a section 8 notice depends on the circumstances, but 14 days is usually the bare minimum.
Whichever type of notice you serve, it must be accurate. If it isn’t, it may be invalid.
• Issue a house possession claim.
If your tenant refuses to leave your property, you can issue a house possession claim asking the Court to make an Order forcing them to vacate.
• Obtaining a house possession Order.
If your house possession claim is straightforward, the Court might make the Order forcing your tenants to leave without a hearing. In other cases, they will set a hearing date at which you and the tenant can put forward your position relating to the house possession claim.
If the Judge is satisfied that your request for house possession is valid, they will make a Possession Order. The Possession Order will impose a deadline by which the tenant must vacate your property.
• Enforcing the Possession Order
If your tenant refuses to vacate the property by the Court’s deadline, you can enforce the Possession Order against them. You so do by obtaining a ‘warrant of possession’ from the Court, which allows bailiffs to remove the tenant.
Why Do Landlords Make House Possession Claims?
Landlords want to regain house possession for a variety of different reasons. For example, you might have no issue with the tenant but simply need to sell the property. Alternatively, your tenant may be causing you trouble, for example, by failing to pay their rent, allowing the property to fall into disrepair, or subletting it in breach of the tenancy Agreement.
Some reasons for making house possession claims are mandatory, meaning the Court must grant possession when one applies. Others are discretionary, meaning the Court can exercise discretion when deciding whether or not to allow your house possession claim. Examples of mandatory grounds are that you used to live in the property and want to move back in, or that the mortgagee intends to exercise its power of sale. Discretionary grounds include that the tenant is in arrears of rent or is using the property for illegal purposes.
What Happens If You Don’t Follow The Correct Procedure When Making A House Possession Claim?
Tenants enjoy considerable legal protection when it comes to housing possession claims. While the law recognises a landlord’s rights to regain possession of property it owns in certain circumstances, landlords must take extreme care when exercising those rights. Failing to prepare your notice accurately or not serving it properly on your tenant may lead to your housing possession claim being rejected by the Court. You may then be forced to pay the tenant’s legal costs of the proceedings and would need to start the process all over again.
In extreme cases, taking back house possession without following the correct procedure can be a criminal offence for which you can face a sentence of two years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both.
Taking timely legal advice as soon as you decide to pursue house possession will ensure you meet all your legal obligations and stand the best chance of regaining control of your property swiftly and without issue.
Please call us now on 01603 672222 for a no-obligation conversation today or Click Here To Make An Online Enquiry.
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