Landlord Law Services

Legal help, services and support for private residential landlords

 

Which Possession Proceedings?

Using the Standard Possession Procedure

These were the situations set out in the question:

  1. The fixed term of the tenancy still has over three months to run, and the tenant is in arrears of rent of two months or more, and/or
  2. No tenancy agreement was ever signed, and/or
  3. You have lost the tenancy agreement and are unable to obtain a copy

For situation 1

If you do not want to wait until the end of the fixed term to use section 21, you should use the standard procedure basing your claim on the rent arrears ground.  Note however that in some cases (for example if your tenant has a potential claim against you), it may be better to wait as there is less to go wrong with a section 21 claim – so long as your section 21 notice is valid!

If you want to discuss your options you can use our  telephone advice service.

To bring a claim using the standard procedure you will first need to serve a section 8 notice.  After the notice period has expired, you can arrange for issue of proceedings.

Landlord Law members have the following resources:

  • The possession notices   here
  • Our article on service of documents  here
  • The Eviction Guide (Business members only)  here
  • Our Advocacy service   here (we highly recommend having a professional advocate with you at the hearing), and

If you do not want to bring the proceedings yourself you may want to consider one of our recommended solicitors.

Warning to non-members – be careful about the section 8 notice you use as the forms have been updated several times since 2015 (in England).  Free forms on the internet may be an older version that will no longer be valid.

For situations 2 and 3

You can still use the section 21 procedure to evict, so long as the fixed term of the tenancy has ended.  However, you will not be able to use the accelerated procedure – as you do not have a tenancy agreement.  So, you will need to use the standard ‘fixed date’ procedure and attend the Court Hearing.

We cover these situations in the Eviction Guide.  Again, if you do not want to act in person consider using one of our recommended solicitors.

  • Find out more about our telephone advice service  here.
  • Business plan members will find the Eviction Guide  here
  • Find out more about our recommended solicitors (for members only) here
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