Grounds to serve notice?

Hi Fred

You don’t need any grounds whatsoever to serve a section 21 notice.

From what you have said, I think you will struggle to justify grounds for a section 8 notice to a judge and be granted possession on that basis.

Unless you are a live in landlord and these people are your lodgers then a weeks notice is completely out of the question.

My advice is call in help from an expert – see >>> https://www.property118.com/member/?id=190
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I agree with Mark. A weeks notice to leave is not an option even if they were lodgers. In that scenario 28 days is accepted as being “Reasonable” notice. Cannot see that Sect 8 would fly at all, but Sect 21 is a viable option.

Did you take a deposit Fred? If so did you protected in a tenancy deposit scheme when the tenancy became periodic? If not you may not be able to serve a S.21 notice.

If the tenants have exclusive occupation of the property and have an AST you can’t just write a letter, you must serve correct notice. Templates of S.21 notices can be obtained free from many sources online and require 2 months clear notice. Though if you haven’t protected the deposit, serving a S.21 may be a waste of time. You may have to return the deposit to them before you serve it to avoid any complications further down the line.

If these are the type of tenants that might not leave without a fight, you will probably end up having to get a possession order and bailiff warrant, therefore getting it right from the outset will be important.

Fred you sound like a new landlord…… more S.21’s get thrown out of court by judges than soft Nellie had cups of tea in 6 months…….. Your cheapest way to get them out is – join a landlords organisation it will be the best £100ish you will spend…. they will talk you through how to complete the paperwork.

or Landlord Action is a company specialising in eviction but £1k is possibly what you may end up paying……

good luck

Section 21.

Provided its correctly served Section 21 is mandatory grounds for possession. (Unless you’ve taken and not protected a deposit in which case you’ve got bigger things to worry about). You don’t have to give a reason for wanting possession under Section 21.

Under Section 8 if the tenant doesn’t go willingly you have to convince a judge that a breach has occurred AND that the breach is so serious it warrants someone losing their home. That sets the bar very high indeed.

As your knowledge is, with respect limited you need some professional advice and the suggestions above are all good.

Reply to the comment left by “Eviction Group” at “24/10/2014 – 12:48“:

Hi Eviction Group and all others

Twice over the last few days on Property118, I have seen mention of one month / 30 days / 28 days as a reasonable period for a resident landlord to give notice to a lodger.
Can anyone give a reference on this?
Case law I imagine.
Are any variations on the period given where violence or theft are involved?

Reply to the comment left by “Jay James” at “24/10/2014 – 19:20“:

The definition of “reasonable” is left to the discretion of a Judge.

I saw a post on here by a tenant who was given 10 minutes by her resident landlord to leave and a Council Tenancy Relations officer told her that under the circumstances that a judge would have considered that reasonable!!! I can’t recall what the tenant had done but it obviously wasn’t a good deed LOL
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Much the same as in Criminal Law ie “Reasonable Force” the determination as to what is reasonable is made by the Court having given consideration to all of the circumstances. I am not aware of case law establishing a precedent regarding reasonable notice but am happy to stand corrected. The 28 days notice is an accepted custom and practice that seems to have been adopted.

Reply to the comment left by “Mark Alexander” at “24/10/2014 – 19:58“:

For council staff to say ten minutes is reasonable, the lady must have done something quite extreme in the circumstances! (Given they are fond of advising to stay put until court ordered physical eviction.)

Reply to the comment left by “Eviction Group” at “24/10/2014 – 20:20“:

“The 28 days notice is an accepted custom and practice that seems to have been adopted.” I did wonder if this was the situation. Alas it is the least objective determination of reasonable compared to case law and statute.

I imagine 28 days are reasonable where there is no apparent reason for eviction. What do readers think?