We are being forced to evict a tenant that we want to keep?

As21 is valid for 6 months. There are no fines for not proceeding to court for a Possession Order.

But as they have abandoned the property you need to go to court to regain legal possession as the tenant can move back into the property and you fined for an illegal eviction as only a tenant or the court can end a tenancy.

You cannot enter the property, unless for an emergency eg gas or water leak or to secure the property without the tenants agreement or the court’s Possession Order.

You also need to put notices in /on the window re abandonment.

S21 will take you way past 1st May if you need tk get a possession order. You need to establish if the property has really been abandoned if so, try to get the tenant to confirm this. If they don’t reply, you may still be able to claim implied surrender by the tenant if there is sufficient evidence of this. Schedule an inspection by putting a 24 hour notice through the door and gather the evidence. Watch yhe video by lawyer David Smith and get some legal advice on what to do.

Possession is 9/10ths of the law.
Practical measures to consider
24 hr notice to say a house check will take place. notice through letterbox plus text / email / voice mail to them to say hope they can be present but if not and If they have any objections to let you know within 23hrs or else you will take that as no objections
Enter to check security and state etc . Take a witness and your phone to record
Check fridge for stale milk
Dates of post on doormat . Utilities on or not.
Note the position of the bed sheets / duvet and towels in bathroom. Stick on an Abandonment Notice detailing proposed change of locks for security reasons and your contact number so they can collect a new key. Wait 21 days. If no contact and another say 2 or 3 house checks reveals nothing has changed or moved and no contact from them then consider taking possession cleaning up and reletting and store their possessions for a `reasonable` time ( Torts Act ) I err on the side of safety and put stuff in a spare garage for maybe circa 6 months depending on value. Work out your risk profile first before deciding on any chosen course of action as outlined above . Its not for everyone . Good Luck

Just had this and it’s ridiculous, but you can’t afford to fall foul of the law or it could cost you a criminal record for illegal eviction.
My tenant simply would not surrender the keys out of spite even though they were not living in the house, so it had to lie empty till I went through courts for a possession order which took about 5 months as we kept having to give them time to respond to show we were being reasonable, even though they weren’t – judges love the underdog and all that.
Don’t be tempted to do this by just changing the locks etc, it’s illegal, and all you need is for them to go to a no win no fee lawyer for you to be in trouble, it’s not worth the grief.
If you can contact them, even offer them £500 to sign the keys back to you and say they have left then it’s worth it in time and effort.

You say that they are up to date with rent.

What is the problem?

If the property is empty for more days than the AST agreement allows, you could go down the abandonment route.

Again, if the rent is up to date, it’s their home.

Section 21 Notices are valid until 31st JULY or six months, whichever is sooner. You need to apply for possession (in the courts) by close of play on 31st July.

Waste time now renting out house having them trashed stupid law on tenants side gives them right make mess do damage I know some one that they haven’t given him one months rent since day they moved in oh council say stay put to them getting nice house joke shop

If you haven’t already done so, you may wish to speak to your insurers, as often they will only allow a limited period of time for a property to be empty.