Evicting residential tenants can be a stressful and daunting prospect. Whether they have fallen into rental arrears or broken their tenancy agreement in other ways, there is a relatively straightforward process to follow. If you need to know, how can I evict my tenant then we have all the information you require.
However many properties you own, if you have a problem tenant it can take time and money to resolve the situation. Dealing with the issue swiftly, to recover your rent and regain possession of the property is extremely important. The sooner you can re-let the property to a new tenant, the quicker you can start receiving a rental income again.
The process for residential evictions
It’s essential that you follow the right steps if you’re looking to evict a residential tenant. For more details on how can I evict my tenant and the correct legal process follow the steps below.
This information is relevant to those landlords with an assured shorthold tenancy in England and Wales. There are two forms of assured shorthold tenancy:
– Fixed term: a tenancy that runs for a set period of time
– Periodic: a tenancy that runs week by week or month by month with no fixed end date. If a fixed term tenancy isn’t renewed for another term, then it will revert to a periodic tenancy.
Section 8 Notice
When you’re looking at how can I evict my tenant, you need to know on what basis the eviction is being carried out.
Where the tenant has breached the agreement, e.g. for non-payment of rent, a Section 8 Notice to Quit must be served on them. This is the first step to gaining a possession order from the county court. The notice will state on what grounds the landlord is seeking possession.
To avoid any delays in the court proceedings, it’s important that the Section 8 Notice is issued and served on the tenant correctly. Using a professional eviction service with a nationwide network of process servers will ensure that everything is conducted legally and according to the correct process.
Section 21 Notice
For landlords who wish to regain possession of a property at the end of a fixed term or where they have a periodic agreement the tenants must receive a Section 21 Notice. There doesn’t need to be a reason for a landlord to serve a Section 21.
There are certain elements that the landlord must have carried out in order to serve a Section 21 Notice. When they start renting, the tenant must have been provided with the following information:
– A Gas Safety Certificate
– An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
The tenants’ deposit must also be in a deposit protection scheme.
The Section 21 Notice must provide your tenants with at least two months’ notice. For a fixed term tenancy, the notice period must end after the tenancy expires. For periodic tenancies or where the fixed term has already expired, the notice needs to end on the last day of the rental period. For example, at the end of the month or quarter, depending on how the rent is paid.
Possession order for residential evictions
Where the tenant doesn’t leave the property by the date stated on the Section 8 or Section 21 notice you will then need to apply for a possession order. For possession claims you’ll need to apply to the local County Court where the property is located.
How can I evict my tenants using bailiffs?
Once you have received a possession order from the courts this will give a date for the tenants to leave by. There will be times when evicting residential tenants isn’t this easy and they refuse to leave by the given date. At this point you can arrange to use County Court Bailiffs or request that the order is transferred to the High Court for eviction under a High Court Enforcement Officer. This can be requested when the application is made for the Possession Order.
Typically, county court bailiffs have a considerably long waiting period (which can be several months). Using the high court route will incur additional costs, but can be carried out within a matter of weeks – providing you with quicker possession of your property.
Help with residential evictions
To find out more about evicting residential tenants, contact the enforcement team at Civil Enforcement Agents Ltd today. We can talk you through how you can evict your tenant and the legal steps you need to take. Contact us today on 0113 532 8350 or email office@cealimited.co.uk.