Please can you tell me how long an eviction is likely to take

[Thurrock1]

Hi, I have a tenant - been with me since 2012 but always in a state of arrears, eventually pays up . . . almost, but is otherwise a decent tenant. It is getting a problem and always at Christmas there are new arrears. Currently he owes £1120 - which is over a month in arrears. He is on an AST periodic. Long ago he went from paying monthly to paying weekly.

At the moment I feel Ive just had enough and want to serve him with eviction for non payment of rent but worried I will be jumping the gun a bit and get into a worse state. Can you tell me how long an eviction would likely take - I am in Essex. And would I need to issue a Section 8 and Section 21. Pls let me know. Thanks

[DPT57]

If you serve a s21 notice it is six months notice currently and then could take a further year to get a court possession order and bailiffs if he doesn't leave. He may also stop paying rent once he gets the notice. In your position I would not serve notice yet but would be hoping that things get back to some sort of normality next year and you can then serve notice for rent arrears when it reaches whatever threshold is operating at the time.

[jpkeates]

I agree with DPT57.
If you use a s8 notice, someone will probably want to check that there's a rent book, which is a legal requirement for weekly rent.

[Thurrock1]

Thank you for your replies. About the rent book, the tenant always pays bank transfer - would we still need a rent book. he lives a half hour drive away!!

[jpkeates]

Thank you for your replies. About the rent book, the tenant always pays bank transfer - would we still need a rent book. he lives a half hour drive away!!

It's a legal requirement (albeit a little impractical in the modern world).

One reason for a rent book is that it highlights any arrears.

[MKMike]

...... Long ago he went from paying monthly to paying weekly.

Do you mean you changed the contract to a weekly rent?
Or do you mean the contract specfies a monthly rent but he has chosen to pay you on a weekly basis?
Makes a diference with respect to the rent book requirement.

[theartfullodger]

Yes, you have to provide a rent book: Surely you'd want tenant to abide by the law (eg paying rent), so surely you'd wish to abide by the law??
s.4(1) Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.

see..
https://england.shelter.org.uk/legal...ment_of_rent#4

Given

..... tenant - been with me since 2012 but always in a state of arrears,.....

- why did you not evict much earlier, say starting eviction 2012 please??

[Thurrock1]

I did not know about the rent book law
He originally had an AST to pay pcm and bcos he was in arrears we allowed him to pay weekly
I did evict him 2 years back but he swiftly paid up everything and asked to stay. That was just over 2 years ago Nov 18

[Thurrock1]

There has been no change to his AST it has jost gone periodical after the first 6 months

[theartfullodger]

......
I did evict him 2 years back but he swiftly paid up everything and asked to stay....

That wasn;t eviction (When court/bailiff actually eject him..) that was presumably just you issuing a notice.

NB Please issue both s21 & s8 for arrears (ground 11 at least) then copy s8 to local council.

Wouldn't want local council wasting time & money rehousing when it may well not be necessary.

And presumably no reference or only a full, honest one, please?

[Thurrock1]

Hi Artful, I did properly evict in 2018 - got an eviction notice but as I said he asked to stay and paid up in time. The Notice would last, as I understood it, for 2 years and so has only just run out. But I am hoping he will start paying again, last night he said he would. Thanks again for your replies.
He wont go to the Council to ask for help! Must admit it worries me a bit.

[Jon66]

Did you go to court and get a possession order?

[Thurrock1]

Did you go to court and get a possession order?

Yes. in November 2018, but, as i say, did not use it. And I think they last for 2 years.

[Jon66]

A possession order is not a warrant for possession.

A warrant for possession is commonly called an eviction warrant.

Terminology is very important as it can mislead when trying to give advice.

[hybrice]

I'd suggest getting paid for legal advice, but I'm almost certain possession orders last up to 6 years, and even after that can be enforced as long as you get the Court's permission by applying under N244 application notice.

So, as long as you have the order and it's the same person you should be able to apply for a warrant of possession using that order. The form is N325 and it costs £121.

In fact, you could not make a new application even if you wanted to, as proceedings would be barred under Res Judicata - i.e already litigated.

So, I mean, this is very good news for you and effectively cuts out the longest part of the process, if you applied now you'd likely get an eviction date for January/February as there's a freeze currently...