You may have found yourself in receipt of a Notice for Possession from your Landlord. The most important advice at this stage is to act quickly.
Dependent on the type of Notice you have received, you could have from as little as two weeks to six months’ Notice to vacate your home.
Initially, we can have a look at the Notice to check whether it is valid. A minor error on the Notice can invalidate it and we are well equipped to read through it to ensure it’s correct. Further, there are a number of requirements of a Landlord in relation to compliance with the Renting Homes (Wales) Act which must have been complied with prior to a valid Notice having been served. We will need to be satisfied that a valid Notice has been served by the Landlord by checking the various legislation has been complied with by them.
We will also carry out various checks to see whether the Landlord is legally in a position to serve such Notice (for example, if the property is in Wales we can check whether the Landlord has the appropriate License; if the Landlord has not protected your deposit appropriately, a Notice under Section 173 will be invalid etc).
Notice based on breach of Occupation Contract
The Notice based on breach of Occupation Contract process allows a Landlord to evict a Contract Holder as a result of a breach in the Occupation Contract. There are various grounds for such an eviction set out in the Housing Act 1988, including rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, property damage etc.
The Notice gives the Contract Holder notice of the intention to apply to the Court for an Order for Possession and the Notice period required varies dependent on which of the grounds referred to above is to be used. If the end of the Notice period is reached, and the Contract Holder is still in possession of the property, then the Landlord can apply to the Court for an Order for Possession.
There are still options available for you to retain possession of your home though, and dependent on the grounds referred to in the Notice, we can defend the Possession proceedings or, in some instances, remedy the problem and negotiate an amicable resolution with the Landlord.
Notice without Cause
This is often referred to as a “no fault” eviction, where the Landlord merely wants to take back possession of their property for whatever reason. Provided the Occupation Contract has come to an end, the Landlord has a legal right to repossession but they must, again, follow strict legal procedures and serve appropriate Notice on the Tenant. The Notice period given must be at least six full months.
As with the breach of contract notice, if the end of the Notice period is reached, and the Contract Holder is still in possession of the property, then the Landlord can apply to the Court for an Order for Possession. If the court grants a Possession Order and the Tenant still does not leave, landlords can apply for an eviction Warrant from the County Court, which may result in Bailiffs arriving to take possession of the property. This is a most undesirable outcome for all concerned, and we are well equipped to help you in dealing with the Landlord before matters escalate to this level of conflict.
If you would like to arrange an appointment to discuss your potential needs, please telephone our offices on 029 2047 0909 and ask for Janine Griffiths. Alternatively, please complete the enquiry form to the right and one of our team will contact you.