You’ve served your Eviction Notice, the eviction date has arrived but your tenant hasn’t left the property; what do you do now? If you’ve found yourself in this unfortunate situation, there’s no need to worry. Our expert landlord and tenant solicitors explain how you can apply for an accelerated possession order and what your other options are.

A possession order is generally necessary if your tenant has ignored the eviction notice and has shown no sign of leaving the property by the eviction date. Once a possession order has been granted, the Court bailiffs can come and remove the tenant and their belongings from the property.

As the name suggests, an accelerated possession order is a possession order granted on a more urgent basis. When you apply for a standard possession order, the Court will generally need to review the application and decide whether it is reasonable for the landlord to evict their tenant. In circumstances when the landlord has indisputable reason to evict their tenant, the landlord can apply for an Accelerated Possession Order, which skips over the application review stage.

To apply for an Accelerated Possession Order, your tenant will need to have been on an assured shorthold tenancy and you must have served a section 21 notice on them at least 6 months after their tenancy’s start date. You must have also given them the required 2 months’ notice in which to vacate the property, as demanded in the Section 21 notice.

A notice served under Section 21 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requests the return of your property, and can be served when your tenant hasn’t done anything wrong. In order to serve a valid Section 21 notice, you will need to have provided your tenant with the following documentation:

• A valid EPC (Energy Performance Certificate)
• An up-to-date gas safety certificate
• A DPS certificate stating how their deposit is being protected
• An updated copy of the government’s “How to Rent” guide

The notice will need to contain the tenant’s full name, property address and the date by which they need to have vacated. Find out more about serving a Section 21 Notice here.

If you’re evicting your tenant because they have done something wrong (for example if they’re in rent arrears or if they’ve breached their tenancy agreement), you will need to serve a section 8 notice onto them. Find out everything you need to know about serving a Section 8 notice here on our website.

You will need to have served the eviction notice and waited the allotted notice period before you can apply for any possession order. Hopefully, your tenant will vacate during this time period as requested without any trouble.

The process from making the application for the Accelerated Possession Order to having your property returned to you can take as long as between two and six months, due to the backlog caused by COVID-19.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much that can be done to speed up your application; however, our solicitors can spare you the long wait for Court bailiffs after your possession order has been granted with our express 7-day tenant eviction service – more on this below.

First things first, you will need to serve a Section 21 Notice onto your tenant requesting the return of your property. You will usually need to give them two months in which to leave your property.

However, if your tenant refuses to leave and you decide to apply for an Accelerated Possession Order, you will need to complete a Form N5B. You will also need to attach some documents in addition with the application, including:

• The tenancy agreement
• A copy of the Section 21 Notice
• The energy performance certificate and gas safety certificates given to the tenant at the start of their tenancy
• A DPS certificate stating how you have protected their deposit
• An up-to-date copy of the government’s “How to Rent” guide given to your tenant at the start of their tenancy

Once this has been done, the Court will check the application and, if there is no dispute over the facts given, they will usually grant you a possession order.

If there is any problem with your application or any ambiguity regarding the facts, the Court may order that a hearing is necessary. At a hearing, the Judge may either grant the possession order or dismiss the Court case.

At the time of writing, it currently costs £355 to apply for an accelerated possession order, plus legal fees if a solicitor is instructed. The fee is the same for a standard possession order.

Our solicitors can provide a no-obligations, transparent fee prior to instruction, with no hidden fees or other nasty surprises. Call us on 020 8840 6640 today to receive a quote of our fees.

Unfortunately, no. If you needed to evict your tenant for rent arrears, then you would need to have served a section 8 notice onto them and would therefore not be able to apply for an Accelerated Possession Order. If you served a Section 21 notice onto your tenant and they then refused to pay rent, you will need to make a separate claim for the lost rent.

Unfortunately, you can only apply for an accelerated possession order if you’ve served a Section 21 notice onto your tenant (which requires you to have served your tenant the correct documents at the beginning of their tenancy). If you aren’t eligible, you would need to apply for a standard possession order.

If you are evicting your tenant for rent arrears, you can use the government’s online service to make your application. If you are evicting your tenants because they have breached the tenancy agreement or caused significant damage to the property, you will need to fill in a paper copy of the form and send it to your local Court.

With a standard possession order, the Court will usually make an “outright” or “suspended” Possession Order. An “Outright” order will demand that your tenant vacate the property within the allotted period of time, usually two weeks, while a “suspended” possession order gives the tenant another chance to stay in the property as long as they rectify their wrongdoing, such as by paying owed rent or by fixing the damage done to your property.

Eviction is a stressful process for everybody involved and it is made all the more frustrating when the tenant won’t co-operate. Our specialist Landlord and Tenant solicitors understand this and will make the process as quick and as painless as possible for you, with legal advice catered to your specific situation and reliable repossession services you can trust.

For more information, please see our Landlord and Tenant pages. To book an appointment, please call 020 8840 6640 or email solicitor@starckuberoi.co.uk. Our offices are located in Brentford, Ealing, London Belgravia and Canterbury, all within easy reach by public transport. Our partner, Raminder Uberoi, can also provide a Notary Public Service at any of our London offices.

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