When your tenant falls into arrears or after the expiry of the fixed term, as a landlord it is within your right to issue possession proceedings for an order requiring them to leave your property, after giving the right notice. During these stressful processes, in the case of rent arrears, the courts will often grant the tenant the ability to pay off fixed amounts of those arrears on a periodical basis until they are cleared.
As a landlord you will no doubt be aware that when letting residential property, your tenants have important rights which prevent them from being evicted without a court order or unlawfully harassed by you. With the exception of certain specific categories of lettings, it is a legal requirement that you obtain a court order before you will be able to enforce any right of possession of or re-entry to your property. There are some exceptions to this rule such as holiday lettings or where you occupy the same property as your tenant.
There are two main types of possession action available to you. These are:
- Standard Procedure
- Accelerated Possession Procedure (applies to Section 21 route only)
Under the standard procedure, the court will issue a summons to your tenant(s) to attend the court, before an order can be made. Depending on the court itself, it can take about 2 to 3 months to obtain a hearing date. If the tenant fails to attend without reasonable justification, an order can still be made in their absence. If the landlord fails to attend, the case may be thrown out. If successful, you could be awarded a possession order, plus judgement for any arrears outstanding, the court fees and any reasonable costs incurred by you. Your tenant will be required to leave your property on or before the given date. If they fail to leave, then you can apply for the bailiffs to remove them.
The Accelerated Possession Procedure (APP) is a paper-based procedure so normally this is quicker and there is no requirement for a hearing. However, any arrears must be claimed using separate court proceedings.
