Residential Landlords: Seeking Possession?
12 Jan 2021Our residential landlord clients will have been paying close attention to developments this year in regard to any efforts to obtain possession of their properties from tenants and they may be aware that there are new extended notice periods in place applicable to serving ‘Section 21’ notices and ‘Section 8’ notices.
A new form has been published by the Government that can be used to give a section 21 notice and a section 8 notice.
It remains essential to ensure that care is taken to complete the forms properly and to serve them in the appropriate manner allowing for the proper amount of notice to be given applicable to the circumstances.
Our residential clients may also be aware that following the recent lifting of the stay on possession proceedings, there have been considerable changes in the procedure for obtaining possession and overall arrangements have been put in place which relates to the case management and hearing of possession proceedings and the prioritisation of them.
There is a distinction in the management of those possession claims issued before 19 September 2020 which were stayed and those possession claims issued after that date. It is necessary to issue a Reactivation Notice in respect of any stayed claims in order for those claims to be listed, re-listed, heard or referred to a judge. The Government has published a Reactivation Notice Form which you can find here with other related forms and guidance.
Within the process, emphasis is being placed on what impact the pandemic has had on tenants, for tenants to have an opportunity to have access to independent legal advice and for the parties to attempt settlement.
If considering taking steps now to obtain possession, it would not be unwise for landlords to factor in a timeframe of possibly a year before obtaining a possession order. Given this delay and other pressing factors, they might decide to take a commercial view and consider negotiating mutually satisfactory settlement terms with their tenants.
Contact our Residential Property Solicitors
If you require any specific advice or assistance about residential landlord and tenant matters or any of the issues referred to in this blog, please contact Yvonne Addy by telephone on 0207 486 5131 or by email to yvonne.addy@mwh-law.co.uk or make an online enquiry here.
This blog was prepared on 29 October 2020. It is not intended to be advice and should not be relied upon as such.