How to Gain Repossession of Your Rental Property
At some point during your landlord journey, it maybe necessary to get repossession of your property. This may be for a variety of reasons. However, this process needs to be handled very carefully and within the relevant legal guidelines. We detail the steps that need to be taken to complete this process in a painless and stress-free way.
It's not a particularly nice topic but one which may arise in the course of a tenancy. Nonetheless, tenancy eviction is the subject of this particular blog. If the time has come to evict your tenant for whatever reason, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to legally reclaim possession of your property.
Serve a Section 8 or Section 21
When evicting a tenant it’s important to follow the correct procedures, and to do that, you’ll need to serve the correct notice under the Housing Act 1988.
This will be either a Section 8 or a Section 21. In short, a Section 8 can be used if your tenants have broken the terms of the tenancy, whereas a Section 21 is used to give notice of possession after a fixed-term tenancy ends.
Section 8
The majority of tenants are good as gold - but some are less so. As a landlord, the last thing you need is to be stuck with a bad egg in your property, and that’s where a Section 8 comes in. The main reasons for serving a Section 8 would be the tenant failing to pay rent, causing damage to your property, or generally being a nuisance with anti-social behaviour. If the tenant has failed to comply with the terms of the tenancy agreement, you are within your rights to end it during its fixed term.
How to complete a Section 8
To serve a Section 8, you must complete the ‘prescribed notice’ known as Form 3 (Notice seeking possession of a property let on an assured tenancy or an assured agricultural occupancy). On this form, you’ll need to provide the following information:
- Full name of tenant(s)
- Full address and postcode of the property
- The ground(s) for eviction number(s) you are using and the exact text of the grounds(s)
- A thorough explanation of why you are using said ground(s)
- The date the notice expires
You will either need to give 2 weeks or 2 months notice, and this depends on the ground(s) you are using to serve the Section 8. Don’t worry - all the information you need is on the form.
How to serve a Section 8
The methods of serving a section 8 are either by email, by post, or in person.
Email is the easiest and most convenient method of delivery. If you email your notice before 4.30pm on a business day, it is deemed to be served on that same day. If you send it after 4.30pm, the notice will be considered served on the next working day.
If sending it by post, you should use first-class. As long as you post it on a working day, the notice will be considered served two days after posting. You should get proof of postage, and you should also take some time-stamped photos to prove you served the notice via first-class post.
But if you’d rather, you can of course serve the notice in person. This will require both you and the tenant to sign a copy of the notice. If you are worried they may refuse to sign it, you should bring an independent and neutral witness along with you.
You could also post the notice through the letterbox. If delivered before 4.30pm, the notice is deemed served that same day. If delivered after 4.30pm, it is deemed served the next working day. Again, take time-stamped photos to prove the delivery.
What happens next?
Once you’ve served the Section 8, the tenant must vacate the property by the last day of the notice period. If the tenant doesn’t comply, you’ll have to apply for a possession order from the court. Assuming the judge grants the order, the tenant will have to up-sticks and leave.
It’s important to be aware that, when serving a Section 8, the tenant has the right to dispute it. If it ends up going to court, you’ll need to provide evidence of the reasoning behind your request for eviction.
Section 21
Serving a Section 21 is more straightforward because you don’t have to provide any reason for claiming possession of your property. The catch, of course, is that you’ll have to wait for the fixed-term to end before you can evict your tenant.
Also keep in mind that there are instances in which you cannot use a Section 21 - for example, if it’s been less than 4 months since the tenancy started. A full list of ‘When you cannot use a Section 21’ can be found here on the Government website.
How to complete a Section 21 notice
To serve a Section 21, you’ll need to use Form 6a (if the tenancy was started or renewed after 30 September 2015). Compared to the Section 8 notice, this form is a lot simpler.
How to serve a Section 21 notice
As with Section 8, you can serve your Section 21 via email, post or personal delivery. Make sure you can prove you served the notice; bring witnesses and take time-stamped photos if necessary.
The notice period for Section 21 is two months, after which the notice expires. If the tenant hasn’t left after the two months, you can apply to court to help you out.
Anything else?
Sure - it’s worth knowing that you can serve both a Section 8 and Section 21 notice at the same time. They act independently of each other, but both arrive at the same outcome of you getting your property back.
When serving either a Section 8 or Section 21 (or both), it is highly recommended you fill out the N215 form (certification of service). This acts as evidence to the court regarding the documents you served, who you served them to, when you served them, and how you served them.
If you require any further information, please call Laura on 01332 300197