evicting a tenant

How To Evict A Tenant Quickly And Fairly


As a landlord, you are more than likely to find yourself needing to evict a tenant for one reason or another. Perhaps the tenant isn’t paying rent on time, or you’ve had other problems with them. Or perhaps you need to sell the property that you are renting out, and need the client to move before their lease term is up. Whatever the reason for the eviction, we’ve compiled some tips to help the process move faster, while ensuring you are on the right side of the law.

The Tenant Eviction Process

If you are evicting a tenant because they have failed to pay you rent, you’ll need to file a possession claim. This will cost you cost you around £100-150. You can then instruct a Process Server to serve the claim and the tenant will be advised of a court date. If they are found to have broken their lease agreement, they will have to pay you not only the rent that they owe you, but also the court fees that you paid upfront.

If you are not planning to seek any unpaid rent from your tenant, you can file for an accelerated possession, which can help the process of eviction to happen much faster. Filing either motion will allow the courts to help you to forcibly evict a client who refuses to leave once the warning period is over.

Do Not Harass Your Tenant

It’s illegal to harass your tenant or to evict them without following the proper legal guidelines. Harassment can mean a variety of things, including cutting any kind of services, such as electricity or cable, to the property, threatening your tenant, or even refusing to make necessary repairs. Although you may be emotionally charged at this point, by keeping ‘your side of the street clean’ you will give yourself a far better chance of a positive outcome at a later date.

Legal Obligations

If your tenant signed a long term lease, which is anything longer than two months, you are required to give them a two month notice of eviction. If your tenant had a shorthold or periodic tenancy, which usually means that rent is paid weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly, you must give them notice totalling the length of one rent period. For example, if your tenant pays rent once every other week, you must give them two weeks notice for eviction.

Assured Tenancy Agreement

Certain rental agreements and leases will be exceptions to the laws governing evictions. For instance, if your tenant has an assured tenancy, you’ll need to follow an entirely different set of laws. An assured tenancy means that the tenant has more control over the property that they rent, including the right to not allow a landlord to enter whenever they please. Assured tenancies were issued to renters who moved into their rented homes between 1989 and 1997, so if you are a newer landlord, you may be governed by a different set of regulations.

Another situation that you might face is an excluded tenancy. This usually means that the tenant shares a home with you, or shares part of your home, such as your bathroom, with you. This also means that the tenant has far less protection from eviction that other types of tenants.

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