Evicting a problem tenant calls for a thorough understanding of the tenants rights as well as the rights of the landlord and other relevant law. If a tenant has rent arrears and the landlord has been unable to obtain a satisfactory rent arrears repayment arrangement with the tenant then the landlord has the right to take legal action in order to enforce recovery of the outstanding rent and arrears and ultimately to evict a tenant.


The Tenant Eviction Process

Before starting the process of tenant eviction landlords should be very mindful of the fact that it is a criminal offence for a landlord to evict a tenant without the appropriate court order in place and landlords are often well advised to seek professional legal help regarding tenant eviction matters. The law in England and Wales that governs private landlord tenant evictions is covered in The Housing Act 1988. If a landlords tenant owes more than 2 months or 8 weeks rent, then a Judge is bound to award a repossession order in favour of the landlord unless exceptional circumstances dictate otherwise.

Starting The Eviction Procedure

In order to progress with property repossession proceedings the landlord needs to issue a Section 8 Housing Act 1988 notification to the tenant. This then provides the tenant with 14 days to respond formally to the Section 8 notice issued by their landlord.

If a landlord does not properly serve this the Section 8 notice correctly then this may serve to delay the property repossession action and it is often advisable for the landlord to obtain professional legal advice or intention from a solicitor with this procedure.

Asking The Court To Make An Order Against A Tenant

When a Section 8 notice has been correctly issued and the reply time period has passed , if the tenant has failed to pay the outstanding rent arrears and has refused to vacate the landlords property then a landlord may apply to the local county court for a repossession hearing whereby a judge will be asked to issue a Repossession Order. Provided that the rent arrears relate to a period of 2 months or 8 weeks on the day of the repossession hearing then a judge should award the repossession order in favour of the landlord. A judge can make exceptions and not award a repossession order if the landlord is viewed to have neglected their statutory obligations. For example, if a property is in disrepair or if the tenants rent arrears has come about because of a demonstrable delay in a Housing Benefit claim made by the tenant and the tenants Local Authority have not been approached by the landlord regarding the rent arrears situation accordingly.

Executing A Repossession Order To Evict A Tenant

When a landlord is successful in obtaining a repossession order from the a local court the majority of tenants choose to move out of the landlords property as instructed by the repossession order from the court. In cases when a tenant refuses to move out of the landlords property in line with a court repossession order then the landlord has the right to ask the court to assign a court bailiff to visit the landlords property and formally evict a tenant by visiting the landlords property and in some cases being accompanied by local police officers.

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