Q : My tenant is in 2 months rent arrears.  What is the quickest way to get back possession of my property?

A: Unfortunately there is no quick way to get possession unless your tenant is going to give up possession voluntarily.  If the tenancy is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy you will need a Possession Order from the court, and then a Warrant of Possession, before the tenant is obliged to give up possession.

The first step in getting a Possession Order is to serve a Notice Seeking Possession on your tenant. This can be a Section 8 Notice, on the various grounds of rent arrears, which gives 2 weeks notice.  Alternatively it can be a Section 21 Notice of two months, which is the “no fault” notice, for which no grounds are required.  The Section 21 Notice cannot expire before the initial fixed period of the tenancy expires.

Upon expiry of the Notice the tenant might give up possession.  If not the next step is to issue a court claim for possession.  The type of claim will vary depending on which type of Notice you rely on.  A claim based on a Section 8 Notice will involve a hearing.  A claim based on a Section 21 Notice is usually dealt with without a hearing.   

All being well you will then get your possession order, but if the tenant does not give up possession when ordered by the court you will need to apply to the court again for a Warrant of Possession.  The court bailiffs will then send out a Notice of Appointment with the Bailiff, and that date will be the eviction date. All being well you will get back possession on that date.

The process is not quick.  In my experience if the tenant does not give up possession until the bitter end, the whole process takes around 4-5 months.  It is possible to speed things up slightly by, for  example, using Possession Claims Online to submit your claim (not possible with claims based on Section 21 Notice though), or instructing the High Court Bailiffs to enforce the Possession Order (although this is more expensive). 

This is by no means a comprehensive guide to obtaining possession of your property, and I recommend that you seek legal advice unless you are experienced in drafting and serving notices and submitting possession claims to the court; if you make a mistake you could find yourself back at square one having to start the whole procedure again.

If you would like advice on residential landlord and tenant matters you can contact me at scm@gosschalks.co.uk or on 01482 324 662. 

Sarah Coates-Madden // Gosschalks

THIS IS NOT A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO POSSESSION PROC AND YOU SHOULD ALWAYS SEEK YOUR OWN ADVICE.

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