Landlord Law Essentials

Landlord Law Essentials Part 10 - Eviction

Many landlords will never have to evict their tenants and I hope you don’t either. But sometimes it happens.

People lose their jobs. Couples break up. And then you might just want the properly back for your own use and find that the tenant is unwilling to move voluntarily.

So, this section is going to look at eviction issues. But first a few words on ending tenancies.

Ending Tenancies
The Analysis stage
Notices
Getting a possession order through the courts
Bailiffs
The Landlord Law Service
Further Reading

Ending Tenancies

A tenancy, as discussed in Part 2, is a legal interest in land and will continue until ended in the proper way.

Fixed terms will end at the end of the fixed term (although they will normally be followed by a periodic tenancy). Note that after 1 May 2026 fixed terms will be abolished for assured tenancies.
Periodic tenancies can be ended by a Notice to Quit. For assured tenancies, Notices to Quit can only be served by tenants
If neither of the above applies, a tenancy will be ended after a Court Order for possession has been granted.

However, the fact that the tenancy may has ended DOES NOT entitle the landlord to go in and change the locks. Landlords can only do this in two circumstances:

If the tenants have vacated of their own accord (and landlords need to be really certain that they have gone), and
After the property has been repossessed by County Court Bailiffs or High Court Enforcement Officers acting under the authority of a Possession Order.

If a landlord goes in and changes the locks in any other circumstances;

The tenant can bring proceedings for an injunction ordering the landlord to let them back in and for compensation, and
The Local Authority can prosecute or serve a Civil Penalty Notice (after 1 May 2026) for up to £40,000.

You should also note that Section 8 and Section 21 notices do not end a tenancy.

They are a warning to tenants that the landlord is looking to start proceedings and
They are a necessary prerequisite (save for notices under grounds 7A and 14) for a possession order to be made by the Judge.

Landlords need to be really careful.

Tenants’ Notices to Quit

Note also that after 1 May 2026, tenants of assured tenancies (which will then be the majority) will be able to end their tenancy at any time (and move out without penalty) by serving a two-month tenant’s Notice to Quit.

Let’s now look at the procedures for evicting tenants.

The Analysis stage

All the experts will tell you that there are three stages to an eviction:

Service of notices
Getting a possession order through the courts, and
Using the bailiffs to get them out if they still refuse to go

However, I disagree. There are actually four stages to eviction. The extra stage is the analysis stage, and it comes first. It is arguably the most important stage of all.

Issuing court proceedings is a serious business. It is like getting onto a fast train. Once you start, you may (for example, if you find you have made a mistake) not be able to get off. Not without a lot of bother and sometimes considerable expense. Issuing court proceedings in a ‘gung ho’ manner is NOT recommended.

Before issuing, you make sure that you are using the right type of proceedings for your situation. The best way of doing this is to take legal advice from a specialist eviction lawyer.

On my Landlord Law site, I have a special tool for the analysis stage, so you can work out the best solution for yourself. You will find this here.

Notices

For virtually all types of possession claim you need to have served the proper notice first. There are three notices we need to look at:

Section 21 notices
Section 8 notices, and
Notices to quit

Section 21 notices

This is the notice you serve if you want to use the ‘no fault’ ground for possession.

As you will be aware, section 21 is due to be abolished under the Renters Rights Act after 1 May 2026. Although valid notices served before this date can be used to base a claim:

During the ‘use it or lose it’ period of six months from the date of service, or
Before 31 July,

whichever comes earliest.

So if you have not issued your section 21 proceedings before 31 July you will have lost your chance forever.

Some tips:

Take extra care when drafting your notice and ensure that it complies with all the legal pre-requisites.
Do not serve it too close to the deadline, as if so it may be invalid due to the ‘deemed service’ provisions. For example, most notices served by leaving it at the property will be deemed served the following business day if served after 4.30 pm.
Do not issue proceedings too close to the deadline of 31 July. Remember Courts do not always issue proceedings upon receipt at the Court Office. And
Use specialist solicitors. The most important tip!

Trying to save money by acting for yourself is usually a false economy. For example, if you make an inadvertent mistake and your claim gets dismissed (and you may be ordered to pay the tenant’s legal costs!). Whereas if your solicitors make a mistake, you can claim off their insurance!

Section 8 notices

Section 8 notices served before commencement on 1 May can, like section 21 notices, be used to found a claim under the old rules, provided proceedings are issued before the 31 July deadline.

After 1 May, there will be the following changes:

Landlords will need to use a new Section 8 form, Form 3A (not yet published)
Some of the grounds for possession have been amended.
New penalties are being brought in for Local Authorities to fine landlords who do not follow the rules. For example, trying to evict a tenant without serving a proper notice, not serving a notice at all, or deliberately serving a notice they know is not correct in an attempt to bully tenants into leaving when they could have stayed. Some of these penalties carry a fine of up to £40,000.

As before, grounds are divided into ‘mandatory’ grounds, where the Judge must make an order for possession and ‘discretionary grounds’ where he does not, if he does not consider it reasonable to do so.

The grounds most likely to be used by landlords will be:

Ground 1 – landlords requiring the property for themselves or their family to live in. This has changed from the old ground 1, as no notice is required in the tenancy agreement and landlords do not need to have lived in the property previously
Ground 1A – the landlord requires the property back to sell
Ground 8 – this is the mandatory rent arrears ground.

Grounds 1 and 1A are the ‘no fault’ grounds for possession, which landlords can use if they no longer wish to rent out their property.

Note however that

If possession is obtained under these grounds (either after a possession order or the tenants just vacating on receipt of the notice) and
The landlord then relets the property or advertises it to let (even if this is just as a holiday or Airbnb let)

The landlord will be vulnerable to a penalty fine of up to £40,000, with a recommended starting point of £25,000.

Rent arrears claims

Most possession claims are brought because the tenant is in arrears of rent. Most landlords will be using the serious rent arrears ground, ground 8, usually combined with the discretionary possession rent arrears grounds 10 and 11.

Ground 8 is a mandatory ground and provides that so long as the tenant is in arrears of rent on two dates:

The date the notice is served on him and
On the date of the court hearing

The Judge must make an order for possession.

This ground has been amended, though by the Renters Rights Act, so that after 1 May 2026

The tenant must be in arrears of 3 months/13 weeks worth of rent as opposed to two months/8 weeks before the notice is served/at the Court hearing, and
The notice period has increased to 4 weeks as opposed to 2 weeks.

This means that tenants will have higher arrears before possession proceedings can be started.

This is one reason why trying to help tenants to pay, as discussed in Part 7, is often the better way to deal with an arrears situation.

Anti-social behaviour claims

Prior to 1 May 2026, anti-social tenants were invariably evicted using the no-fault section 21 procedure. Once this is abolished, it will be harder to evict anti-social tenants.

However, there have been some amendments to the rules inserted by the Renters’ Rights Act.

In particular, section 9A of the Housing Act, which sets out things the Judge must take into account in claims against anti-social tenants, has been amended to include a new subsection:

(d) whether the person against whom the order is sought has co-operated with any attempt by the landlord to encourage the conduct to cease.

This probably means mediation. So in an anti-social behaviour situation, it may be best to try to resolve the problems via mediation first. If the tenants refuse to engage, then this will put you in a very good position in your possession claim.

Then get solicitors to draft your notice, which should include a reference to the tenant’s refusal to co-operate.

Other reasons for possession

If you are looking to evict your tenant for some other reason, then you should always get legal advice before taking any action.

Notice to Quit

This is a very old form of notice, which is used to end periodic tenancies.

It cannot be used for assured or assured shorthold tenancies, but it is the notice you need to use for common law tenancies and also for protected tenancies (if you have a ground for possession that you are able to use – it is notoriously difficult to evict protected tenants).

Landlord’s Notices to Quit must include prescribed information; however, tenants notices to quit do not.

Possession claims in Wales

These are now different from the rules in England. In particular, Wales retains a no-fault ground similar to section 21, save that it cannot be used during the first year of the tenancy.

There are also different forms for use in Wales.

We are not going to cover the Welsh rules here, but there is a lot of guidance for Welsh Landlords on Landlord Law. Plus, you should receive information via Rent Smart Wales.

Getting a possession order through the courts

As discussed earlier, it is vital that you issue the correct type of claim.

Accelerated proceedings

The so-called ‘accelerated procedure’ (which is not actually very quick) can only be used for claims based on section 21. So will not be available after 1 May, save for valid notices served before that date, and where proceedings are issued before 31 July.

Standard proceedings

The other type of procedure is the standard possession claim, where you have a court hearing before a judge. This is the procedure currently used for all Section 8 proceedings.

Defences

Note, though, that when using a section 8 ground, particularly when it is based on rent arrears, it is always open to the tenant to raise a defence. For example, that they are entitled to compensation (and that therefore this will reduce the amount of rent due from them) because you have failed to comply with your repairing obligations.

If the Judge accepts this, you could find yourself involved in a long, complex disrepair claim, which will be expensive to run and which you may end up losing.

So, make sure, before you issue proceedings, that there are no outstanding issues with your tenant, or that if there are, they are resolved before you issue your claim.

Deposit related defences

Note that another common problem is tenants claiming the penalty if you have failed to comply with the deposit rules.

So, check that there are no problems, as if the Judge awards the 3x the deposit penalty, it could wipe out your rent arrears completely (and you could end up owing the tenant money!).

We discuss deposits in Part 6.

County Court Money Judgements

If you succeed in a claim for rent arrears, you will also get a County Court Judgement for the rent due.

This is often realistically of little use, as tenants evicted for rent arrears seldom have any money available to pay it. You cannot get blood out of a stone. However, occasionally you may be able to recover the rent, for example, if they have a job, you may be able to get an attachment of earnings order.

Future changes

The government stated that they are developing a new ‘digital end-to-end service’ for resolving all possession claims in the County Courts in England and Wales. This will allow claims to be bought online. It is expected to be rolled out in stages with a first release in late 2026.

So watch out for this. Hopefully, it will speed up the process of getting a possession order, but as always, it will be important that you comply with all the relevant rules. These will be published later, when the new digital service is introduced. New court rules will be introduced at that time.

Common law tenancies

There are comparatively few common law tenancies around and the procedure for eviction is less well known.

However, actually, there is usually no problem in getting an order for possession, provided the fixed term has ended. There is no defence to a claim for possession where a common law periodic tenancy has been ended by a notice to quit.

If you need to issue proceedings during the fixed term, you can use the forfeiture procedure if the tenant is in arrears of rent. However, I would not advise using forfeiture for any other tenancy breach without legal help from a specialist landlord and tenant solicitor.

The two main types of claim for common law tenancies are included in the Eviction Guide on Landlord Law.

Bailiffs

Even though you have an order for possession, it is still unlawful for you to physically evict your tenant other than via the Court Bailiffs or High Court Enforcement Officers (formerly known as Sheriffs).

In my experience, tenants have usually vacated by the time the appointment arrives. However, this is often only because an appointment has been made!

When I did eviction work, I only had a handful of cases where the tenants were still in occupation at the time of the bailiff’s appointment. For example, if tenants are being rehoused by the Council, they will usually rehouse them shortly before the bailiff’s appointment, but not before.

Some courts, particularly the London courts, have very long waiting lists for getting a bailiff’s appointment, so it is best to apply for this as soon as you can.

Many landlords decide to pay more and use the High Court Enforcement Officers. These provide a superior (but considerably more expensive) service. However, you need to get leave of the court before you can use them, and this is not always forthcoming.

If you want to do this, it is best to use solicitors to bring your possession claim for you and ask them to request permission in the claim form so they can deal with this at the possession hearing.

The Landlord Law Service

Landlord Law for many years has had a step-by-step eviction guide which is available to our Business Level members. Many landlords have used this and saved themselves considerable sums of money.

However, at this time of change, our advice is to use solicitors. We will be updating the eviction guide as and when the new rules are known, but as is always the case when there are big changes, there will be more challenges, and it will be easier to make a mistake.

We also have recommended solicitors which members can instruct easily using our online forms.

Our eviction guide though, will still be useful, even if you use solicitors, as it will inform you of the process so you can better supervise what your solicitors are doing.