When can I enter my property?

Reply to the comment left by Mark Alexander at 24/12/2018 - 20:06
Hi there
Thanks for your response.
Actually it was not in our knowledge before that he was violating the contract. It is discovered a few days ago. Now is holidays time. I am waiting for the things to get back on track in few days time and will let you know the latest.

Reply to the comment left by Mkahn at 24/12/2018 - 20:26
If tenant is a company, then it is not an AST, so S21 has no effect.
NTQ is required.

Also if tenant is individual and is not living there, then it is not an AST.
NTQ is required as well as S21 (in case tenant moves back).

Actually a clause of contract says, if tenants (company) doesn’t move out after expiration of S21, a court order is required to get back the possession. The main thing is, how to get rid of this middle man, who is getting rent from actual tenants but not paying to the owner of property.

Actually a clause of contract says, if tenants (company) doesn’t move out after expiration of S21, a court order is required to get back the possession. The main thing is, how to get rid of this middle man, who is getting rent from actual tenants but not paying to the owner of property.

Reply to the comment left by Mkahn at 24/12/2018 - 19:53Section 21 is only valid for an assured shorthold tenancy. A tenancy to a company and/or a tenancy to party that doesn't live in the property is a common law tenancy, not an AST so you need to serve notice to quit. If you've used an AST template for the agreement I would advise serving BOTH notices.
Also, try to deal with your tenant directly and not the occupiers. If you do have to deal with them, especially if they start paying you rent, write to them and advise there is no tenancy between you and them and any money will be accepted as occupation charges, not rent.
I would also strongly advise you to join a landlord's association so you can get some advice.

I am compelled to add my comments in reply to Neil Patterson's comments where he wrote:
"You need to be very, VERY careful about this. Once a property has been let to a tenant it is effectively his. He is entitled to live in it without interference from the landlord.

This is set out in a clause (rather quaintly called the ‘covenant of quiet enjoyment’) which is implied into all tenancy agreements, whether it is set out in the written terms and conditions or not. Mostly it is.

So the landlord has no right at all to go barging in, whether he thinks the tenant is there or not. After all a tenant does not HAVE to live in the property if he does not want to. Also, he could be on holiday, in hospital or in jail. None of which entitle the landlord to go in and repossess.

So the fact that the neighbours have not seen your tenant there for a while does not mean that you are legally entitled to just go in and change the locks. For example, if the tenant was merely on a long holiday and he came back to find that you had changed the locks he would be entitled to an injunction to get let back in again and financial compensation from you, "

I beg to differ, once a landlord has taken appropriate course of action, i.e. gone through Courts seeking possession based on non-payment of rent, and the tenants do not come to the court to defend the case, they are out! it is simple as that, we landlords do not provide charity, or housing benefit service for tenants, once a court has given you authorisation to seek possession, tenants are out, they cannot have their cake and eat it.
If it appears without any doubt that tenant appears to have moved out, a landlord can go in and change door locks, provided of course enough notices and warnings were given to the tenant by means of letters dropped at home, or text messages sent to tenant or emailed to him, make it known to him what your intentions are , if assuming tenant is on holidays, he can respond to your text messages, or emails.

How can tenants be so irresponsible that they can go on holidays for months without arranging to pay rent?

I just kicked one such tenant out, I obtained a court possession order and court awarded me immediate possession, it did not even give 14 days for tenant to leave, Court gave me "forthwith" possession meaning I could walk in straight and remove all tenants goods and store them safely somewhere for him to collect and re-rent the place. we cannot go on swallowing insults and losses. It is time tenants learned they are not above the law. A court possession order means just that, provided the tenant is not on the property, door locks can be changed, but of course if he was on the property then they cannot be changed and one must then go back to the court to authorise court bailiffs to evict a tenant. If a tenant has self evicted and left his stuff behind, you go in change door locks and put his stuff somewhere safe, notify him by email or text messages, giving him ultimatum to remove his belongings, from the premises . see below on
Torts (Interference with Goods) Act
Selling the tenant's goods Clearing out the tenant’s goods
Property that the tenant leaves behind still belongs to the tenant and normally should be returned to the tenant.

If you throw away property belonging to the tenant which subsequently turns out to be of value, you may be subject to a claim from the tenant for damages.

If the tenant does leave things behind when they leave, you may charge for the cost of clearing them out of your property.

Torts (Interference with Goods) Act
The Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 states that the landlord can dispose of goods left behind - as long as you follow a certain procedure.

Firstly, send a letter by recorded delivery to the tenant stating that you intend to sell/dispose of the goods and give the following information:

Your name and address (where you can be contacted regarding the tenant's collection)
Details of the items held
The place where they're held
The date on which you intend to sell the goods (this must give the tenant a reasonable amount of time to collect the goods, say two-four weeks)
You must make sure you keep a copy of this letter.

If you're concerned your tenant won't accept the recorded delivery, consider hand delivering the letter so they can't claim they didn't receive it.

Try to contact the tenant
If you don't have the address for the tenant, you'll be able to sell or dispose of the goods if you're able to show that you made reasonable attempts to locate them.

This is best done by instructing tracing agents. Many will offer a ‘no-trace-no-fee’ arrangement.

Providing you keep the the tracing agent’s report stating that he can't find the tenant, you should be safe from a claim from the tenant if you sell or dispose of goods left behind.

Selling the tenant's goods
If any items are sold, the proceedings of sale are, strictly speaking, the property of the tenant.

But you're entitled to deduct the cost of the sale, any rent arrears outstanding or other money due to you from any money you make from selling the tenant's goods.

In my tenants case, I evicted them in their absence, they went on a long holiday without paying me any rent, what do they think I am? a Charity? I am not, so I filed a possession case, court awarded me forthwith possession and I got in and removed all their goods for storage, tenant then came back 1 week after the court hearing date! I had changed door locks, he looked at me, I replied what do you take me for? 6 months without rent what did you expect? he went away and removed all his stuff , good riddance of irresponsible tenants, about time they stopped taking the piss.

If a court has given landlord a possession order, tenants did not defend, and the date of possession came and went, no sign of tenants, then it is safe to assume that the tenants have left leaving their belongs behind, change door locks, leave a notice on the door to contact the landlord, when the tenants do come back, tell them about the court possession order, show them a copy, and tell them why you have changed the door lock and now they have no right to enter the property apart from collecting their stuff, possession order is a legal order and you are not breaking any law, you did not evict tenants, they had left leaving their possessions behind, to be collected later, what else do you think you have to do wait forever?

Thank you Mandy Thompson . My solicitors opinion is , to get court order once for all to get possession since it is mentioned in contact but I am losing the rent every single day and middle man is grabbing it putting me and my family in financial hardship . Solicitor is also increasing his bill for emails, telephone calls etc beside writing letters and preparing a case for court order. He doesn’t agree with me to go to the property and speak to actual tenants .

If you want to play it more safe, and do not want to face surprise counter claim from the irresponsible rouge tenant still trying to do his best to rip you off, you can of course apply to the court for bailiffs and pay a small fee and wait a few more weeks then go there with the bailiffs, and change the door locks, regardless of the tenants belongings which you must then to proceed as per trots Act

Reply to the comment left by Mike at 29/12/2018 - 13:32
The law says that the tenancy does not end until the court order for possession is enforced.

I believe this to mean enforced by bailiffs, not entry by LL.