Bailiff waiting times and rent arrears piling-up?
Dear all, hope all of you are keeping well and many thanks for your time with this post. The purpose of my question is to get any feedback or opinions from Property118 readers, as I am lost at the moment and struggling financially.
I got a warrant for possession from Staines County Court dated 23.09.2025. When I contacted the court, they said due to the court backlog, waiting times for bailiffs are about 12 weeks!
Although my original application led to this warrant under Section 21 notice, the tenants are in rent arrears since Feb 2025 (so far £9200).
Big struggle financially. I thought S21 could be quicker and decided to take the financial hit on loss of rent, but this whole thing is taking forever.
So far, it has been nearly 6 months since the tenant should have been moved out. I do not know if this is worth still spending money to apply for, like some others suggest, to transfer to High Court?
The timeline as below:
Jan 2025 – Sec 21 notice served for tenants to leave by the end of Apr 2025 (they did not leave)
6th May 2025 – Applied for possession order Form 5NB ( Tenant put-up defenc, not really any base to defend S21 and the Court wanted to have a hearing)
5th Aug 2025 – Court hearing – awarded possession with 6 weeks given to Tenant (tenant did not move out after 6 weeks)
17th Sept 2025 – applied for Warrant for possession – Form N325
23rd Sept 2025 – Received Warrant of possession
*Waiting for Bailiff to contact me to inform the date of eviction*
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Basheer
Comments
Have Your Say
Every day, landlords who want to influence policy and share real-world experience add their voice here. Your perspective helps keep the debate balanced.
Not a member yet? Join In Seconds
Login with
Member Since January 2025 - Comments: 20
2:59 PM, 21st October 2025, About 6 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Ethan Shan at 01/10/2025 – 10:26
Good afternoon,
Have you got your property back? Hope all went well, i am still waiting for EX96 Bailiff Appointment letter!
Member Since October 2025 - Comments: 4
3:54 PM, 21st October 2025, About 6 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Bas AD at 14:59
May I ask what your timeline was like in your area? In Kingston County Court, I feel it was relatively swift.
Did you fill out the Risk of Assessment Form EX97A form, they asked me to fill that in to ensure the EX96 letter arrived without delay.
That EX96 appointment letter took 3 weeks to arrive. When I got the letter, it said the eviction date was 5 weeks away.
So the waiting times between each stage wasn’t too bad.
So from the court hearing (July 2024) to when I was able to request warrant of possession (N325), was about a month. Then it took another 2 months for the bailiffs to physically evict the tenants. I got my property back on October 2024.
Member Since January 2025 - Comments: 20
4:15 PM, 21st October 2025, About 6 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Ethan Shan at 21/10/2025 – 15:54
Thanks,
Congratulations on getting your property back!
My court is Staines County Court (admin office is Guilford court), Mine is possession claim under section 21 (thought faster but dead slow)
Called the helpline 03001235577 several times but no one can tell me the actual wait time, kept saying between 8 to 12 weeks for Bailiff.
Yes i filled out Form EX97A that i sent along with request for warrant (N325)
Had hearing on 05th Aug and sent N325 on 17/09 & received Warrant on 23/09.
My struggle may not be the timeline between the warrant and Bailiff, but it took so long to just get to the point of Warrant,
Applied for possession Form N5B on 06/05 and got warrant on 23/09!
Member Since October 2025 - Comments: 4
5:26 PM, 21st October 2025, About 6 months ago
Wow, in my case it was half your time, 2 months, I applied for the N5 in June, got the warrant of possession in August. I went the Section 8 route and the property was in Greater London where the courts are supposed to be clogged up with tenancy cases. I also applied online on the pcol website but I don’t think that makes much of a difference, perhaps a few days. I guess Kingston Upon Thames County Court is an outlier in terms of efficiency I guess even though they wouldn’t help on the phone, only email. They gave the same advice that it would take 8-12 weeks and indeed it took exactly 2 months for the bailiffs to turn up on the premises.
Member Since January 2025 - Comments: 20
9:45 AM, 24th October 2025, About 6 months ago
Hello Everyone-
further update – whilst emailing to check waiting time for Bailiff appt- received email today 24 Oct saying it is provisionally booked for 07th Nov at 3PM and i should receive notification by post within a week.
But i am confused as some step seems missing. I thought i should receive Bailiff appointment notification EX96 then i should confirm the proposed date and time, then the tenants will be given 14 days notice with specified eviction date and time. But between now and 7th Nov it is hardly 14 days and i have not even received EX96!,
Anyone has gone through this and share your view on this please.