Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

How long does it take to evict a tenant? How do you do it?

32 replies

migratingsouth · 13/02/2012 11:53

My tenant wants to be evicted officially so she can go on the council list.

(I was really hoping it wouldn't come to this, I had a thread on this before).

She's happy to go, but wants me to evict through the courts.

She spoke to someone today who gave her all sorts of reassurances that it could take as little as a week to go through the courts.

I reckon the person she spoke to is talking nonsense!

Does anyone have any experience of this - how long did it take you to evict your tenants? (she doesn't actually want to stay, just for the council to recognise her as homeless).

How long did the court and bailiffs order bit take and how much did it cost?

Can it really be done quickly if not contested?

TIA Smile

OP posts:
TheCinnamonGiraffe · 13/02/2012 14:04

Where does she expect that she will go once evicted? She doesn't have to be homeless to go on the council list either...tbh I would (and I know it doesn't answer your question) call the shelter helpine and get some proper information. I thought it would be expensive for you to go through the courts?

Original poster
migratingsouth · 13/02/2012 15:18

Thanks for the reply :)

I spoke to Shelter, they were great. They said they didn't usually advise landlords however as I was trying to do the right thing by the tenant they could give me some general advice.

However it took all day to get through to them! And I've learnt about what I need to do legally from them.

But what I really wanted to know now is how long the process might take, I wonder if anyone has any experience of it?

OP posts:
NatashaBee · 13/02/2012 15:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
migratingsouth · 13/02/2012 15:40

Thanks for the reply.

I don't think she's lying to me. I absolutely sure she was given crap advice.

"You need to be very careful to servce the correct notice at the exact right time. " You mean the section 21 don't you? I'm a bit worried about that actually, I've been googling it and know I need to get it right, apparently 3 out of 10 are issued incorrectly!

OP posts:
Original poster
migratingsouth · 13/02/2012 15:47

Does anyone know, do I have to inform anyone (the courts, the council?) that I've issued the section 21, or do I just serve it to my tenant, wait till the time's up and then contact the courts at that point?

OP posts:
kreecherlivesupstairs · 13/02/2012 18:04

A week? It took me almost a year to get a tenant out of my house. The tenant decided she didn't need to pay rent. What she hadn't taken into consideration was me needing to pay the mortgage.

oreocrumbs · 13/02/2012 19:25

17 months here to evict! (No rent here either Kreecher - oh then she pulled all of the radiators off and ran water through the house and completely totaled it! Happy days - not).

You need to start with a section 21, but if you want to do it as quick as possible get a solicitor to issue it, that is 2 months notice for a start. Then you have to come to that date and then apply to the courts for a posession order which they give a time guide of 12 weeks. However when you go to the courts they only accept a few of the section 21 notices as being issued correctly and send you back to re issue that. Once you have the posession order then I'm not sure if they would accept her as homeless on that date or if she would have to wait untill they send court bailiffs.

Either way you are looking at a minimum of 5 months and I really mean a minimum. The fee for the court is around £500.

Also (you might want to check this with someone in legal) you recieve HB for her IIRC. I was not allowed to accept any rent from my tenant (not that she was offering) once you start possession procedures, as if you take rent you are agreeing to an informal tenancy or something of that ilk.

ReallyTired · 13/02/2012 19:33

It typically takes 6 months to evict through the courts and longer if you have to use balifs. Without ballifs you are looking at 5K for an eviction. Its not cheap.

She can plead homelessness on showing the formal letter of eviction. There is no reason for her to use the courts, unless she is a nasty cow. Councils do not expect people to break the law inorder to get housing.

We had a tenant asking to be evicted and I gave her the formal letter. All she did was take it to the council. She did have to put up with being in B and B for a few weeks, but she has her council house now. She paid all her rent and it fairly amicable between us with no need for courts or anything else.

Original poster
migratingsouth · 13/02/2012 21:31

Reallytired shelter have confirmed that the council will only recognise her as homeless once the bailiffs have been called, this did not come from her

OP posts:
igetcrazytoo · 13/02/2012 21:53

Don't want to upset you, but my brother had to wait from April to September to get into his flat. I'm not sure why this is your problem. I'd personally steer clear of it.

oreocrumbs · 13/02/2012 22:32

migratingsouth, I know your tenant is your friend, so I would ask her to leave or make other arrangments. It will take ages, and will cost you a lot of money. I think you should perhaps take a free half hour with a solicitor and ask them about fees, etc and where you stand with acepting rent during this time. If you try to do it alone, it will take longer but then solicitors don't come cheap.

It cost me best part of £10,000 to get rid of my tenant (it was complicated though).

I have a feeling that if you go along this route your friendship will suffer. It is stressful and unpleasant. You will likely still have her in your property at the end of this year, and I know you want to get it sold.

To be honest I think your friend is asking too much of you. She may not realise what this will involve, but take it from those of us who have been through it - it is a lot, and rules is rules the 'system' won't run any smoother for you because she is co operating. She can't co operate - she has to opose you every step of the way in order to achieve these results.

Could you perhaps look to helping her find more private rental that would take HB with excellent references from you etc rather than going to court?

susiesheep2 · 15/01/2013 12:51

If the OP is around, how did this resolve? I am in a similar situation and trying to work out time scales?.. Served notice this week (section 21 and section 8) So far I think ill need to wait around around 6 weeks until court, then I am trying to figure out how much notice the possession order will give her. Lied when she moved in on tenancy reference, paid 1 month rent and bond, then nothing ever since. She says she is waiting for council house. Im livid! I was going easy on her as she has a baby, but I know her "partner" is living there even though she pretends not to have one, and both have brand new cars!!

susiesheep2 · 17/01/2013 14:08

Ok, well it looks like 6 weeks was a bit optimistic, but as I am eviction on mandatory eviction grounds (as I have discovered there are two different types www.evictions-southeast.co.uk/section-8-eviction-notice.htm it should be straight forward. Although I am worried she will pled hardship which will get her another 6 weeks rent free. Ahhh.

mimi2013 · 20/02/2013 16:46

to migratingsout

I don?t know if this will help but ive had tenants in their since june

I at first thought it would be a easy process as the contract had finished and it was just a roll on agreement and we had a understand with the tenants, I got married in June and asked them to leave and even gave them offered them another property to move into which they turned down so we told our estates agent w needed out property back and they wrote to the tenant asking for the property back , she then took the letter to the free legal aid and complained we were harassing her and she had young children and needed to stay in the house as it was close to their school and family which is compete rubbish we then found out the estate agent didn?t even put her in the

tenancy deposit scheme which meant after two months of waiting it was for nothing and had to start again

but this time I had to go to a lawyer who told me the right steps to take

he did everything for me and told me to sit tight as it would take a few moths

her noticed ended 16th dec finally but as it was over the Christmas period the courts were a bit slow in sending out her first notice and it ended on the 23rd of January nearly a month after the section 21 had finished

I then had to wait for a possession order to be done which the court again took a few more weeks that noticed ended today 20th feburday the tenant is still refusing to not only leave but is not willing to pay the money the judge had told her to

Everything I had brought over the last few month is all in storage and is costing me a lot she wont let us come to the house so we can get builders to give us quotes us she has left the house in a mess

The only good thing out of this was she still paying the rent thank god

I am now in the process of waiting for the bailiffs to come

Hope this helps and also go to see a lawyer and don?t deal with all this yourself and also try to be friendly with them because at the end of the day they can do anything to your house and get away with it

It will take time but in the end you will get it back

I really feel your pain

Sunnyshores · 20/02/2013 21:39

It will take at least 6 months and if you can do it all yourself it will cost about £500. Using a solicitor for a simple case will cost around £2000.

Note - You can only evict if you have protected the deposit.

The S21 notice runs for 2 months, then you fill in court forms, get a court date (months later), court may give her another 4 weeks, when she doesnt leave you instruct baliffs, they take 2 weeks to turn up.... nightmare even if it goes well.

If you do decide to go down this route, I would join NLA for approx £99 and use their free legal helpline to make sure you fill in all the paperwork correctly, you really dont want the hassle of doing something wrong and having to go back to the beginning.

In my experience the evicted tenants dont get a house, they go into a hostel for months, make sure your 'friend' knows what she is letting herself in for, not to mention what she is doing to you.

lalalonglegs · 21/02/2013 09:37

Grrr, I have just found myself in this position - periodic tenancy, notice given almost three months ago with a S21 notice (have sent copy to my solicitor and am praying it is all correct). I had builders etc lined up for a refurb and am now going to be sitting on my bum and lose my slot with them. And yes, the tenant wants a formal eviction so that he can be homeless and be eligible for council housing Hmm.

Has anyone got any experience of the accelerated possession procedure as my scenario seems to qualify for it and I am banking on it being a bit faster [hopeful]?

noddyholder · 21/02/2013 09:39

Not a week for sure!

mimi2013 · 22/02/2013 12:04

lalalonglegs

i have

Sunnyshores · 22/02/2013 12:50

lalalonglegs - nothing accelerated about it!!

mimi2013 · 07/03/2013 11:08

Hi just need some info i have finally got the bailiffs letter and its for the 17th of next month thats nearly two months snice the possession order is that right ?

Sunnyshores · 07/03/2013 17:04

you could ring the balliffs at the county court, but they can come whenever they like really and it sounds like they're busy.

reastie · 07/03/2013 18:22

DHs tenant stopped paying rent. It's taken us around 4 or 5 months to get her out through the courts.

mimi2013 · 08/04/2013 11:06

hey just wanted some info if anyone can help me

i finally got the bailiffs coming on the 17th but the tenant still hasnt packed and has told us she willwont be leaving as someone has told her she get a few more months in there and theres nothin we can do about this

is this true ?

specialsubject · 08/04/2013 11:30

if you've followed all the right procedures, she can whistle.

thread here may be useful:

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3795711

as you see you may still have aggravation and expense because it seems YOU are responsible for the safeguarding of her possessions.

pettyprudence · 08/04/2013 16:54

i am meeting bailiffs for my first court ordered eviction on Thursday - im a pa to a landlord. the tenant is still in the property, no idea if she has packed. i haven't arranged police but as she hasn't left yet i am expecting the bailiff to escort her off the property - eek! anyone been through this bit???