There are a number of different ways that a Landlord can recover possession of a property when the tenant has been served with an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement (AST).

One way a Landlord can recover possession is to serve a Section 8 notice (S8), Housing Act 1988 as amended. This notice is served if a tenant has breached one or more terms of the tenancy agreement. The notice is usually for a period of 2 weeks, although some of the grounds (set out below) require more than 2 weeks notice. Each tenant must have a copy of the Section 8 notice.  They must be notified the grounds that the landlord is relying upon, and why they have breached those grounds. The tenant then has 2 weeks in order to rectify the breach, or agree reasonable terms with the Landlord. if the Landlord does not hear from the tenant, or the terms are totally unreasonable, then after the notice has expired, the Landlord should apply for a Court order.  You cannot insist that a tenant vacates without a court order, even if the notice has expired. The notice must be served in the prescribed form, we can assist you by providing you with a pro-forma for the notice.  You can then either complete the form yourself, ask us to complete the form and serve the notice and provide a certificate of service, or you can simply ask for 40 minutes advice on how to complete the form for £60.00.  Our fee for completing the form and serving it, is only £75.00 plus vat.  So you may feel it is money well spent to make sure that the notice is valid. Please be aware, there are discretionary grounds (where the Judge can use his/her discretion to order possession) or mandatory grounds.  We have set the grounds out below.

These are the mandatory grounds 1 - 8

Ground 1: The Landlord requires possession as he used to occupy the property as his main home or he now wishes to occupy the property as his main home.

The Government has today (24 January 2019) announced an overhaul of the 'broken housing complaints system'.

Community Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP stated 'the proposals I have announced today will help ensure all residents are able to access help when they need it, so disputes can be resolved faster, and people can get compensation where it's owed.'

For full details of the announcement click here.

To be kept up to date speak to us about our newsletters, or keep reading our blogs, follow us on Facebook, or attend one of our training events. Speak to Kirsty for further information

The Tenant Fees Bill has completed its passage through the House of Lords and Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, the Government's housing spokesperson in the House of Lords, confirmed it will come into effect on the 1st June 2019 for all tenancies signed on or after that date (subject to Royal Assent). Examples of banned fees would be:

• Charging for a guarantor form
• Credit checks
• Inventories
• Cleaning services
• Admin charges
• Gardening services

Landlords and agents will be able to charge their tenant for damage caused to the property, loss of keys and late payment of rent. These fees will also be limited and there will be stricter rules in place. There will be consequences for charging a fee that is not permitted. Tenants will be able to reclaim the money they have paid via the county court and trading standards will be able to issue fines up to £3,000.00. Landlords will also be unable to serve a Section 21 notice if they have charged a tenant a fee where they should not have and kept the money. To be kept up to date speak to us about our newsletters, or keep reading our blogs, follow us on Facebook, or attend one of our training events. Speak to Kirsty for further information.

As the number of people renting in the UK continues to rise, the BBC has taken a closer look at the state of private renting. Read the full story here.

If you are a landlord or tenant looking for advice or looking to be kept up to date speak to us about our newsletters, or keep reading our blogs, follow us on Facebook, or attend one of our training events. Speak to Kirsty for further information.

There are mainly two procedures to follow when a landlord wishes to obtain possession of his/her property which is let under an AST.  Firstly a Landlord has to make sure that all the licenses are in place, that if the property is in Wales, that the Landlord is registered, that the bonds are also registered and the prescribed information has been served. If in England, retaliatory evictions does not apply when serving a S21 notice.   If all the above is correct, then the landlord can serve either a Section 21 notice, or a Section 8 notice.  The Section 21 notice, is served because the landlord simply wishes to recover the property from the tenant.  the notice is served for 2 months.  Once the two months has expired, then an application for accelerated possession can be made.  The other route is when a tenant has breached a condition of the tenancy, there are mandatory grounds (the Court should make an order) and discretionary grounds, where the Court has the discretion to order possession or not.  With a Section 8 notice it must be served for 2 weeks, rather than the 2 months of a Section 21 notice.  A landlord can recover his/her loses by serving a Section 8 notice (e.g. rent arrears).  It is important that you get all your paper work correct which ever procedure you follow as any discrepancy will give the tenant a complete defence.  Many Landlords find the £60.00 advice line helpful because we can explain the pitfalls and help you to make sure you fast track your eviction process.  It is often difficult to obtain free advice, so for initial guidance, the firm does offer 10 minute free advice which will put you in the right direction.