Here is a question to the blog clinic from Marie who is a landlord.
Tenant on universal credit not paid rent for 4 months. Does not answer his phone or messages and won’t answer the front door. Neighbours say they can hear people still living there.
He has been served with section 8 & 48. I have run out of money for Landlord Action. I have the certificate of service. Only 2 months left in the shorthold tenancy agreement. What’s my best option?
Answer
Bringing claims for possession from tenants who have not paid rent is something landlords can do themselves, but you do need to be very careful as there are a lot of things which can go wrong.
For example, if you have failed to protect your deposit, the tenant can bring a claim for the penalty for non-compliance which can reduce or even wipe out your rent arrears claim. In which case you can end up owing your tenants money!
Your claim will also depend on your notice being in the proper form, correctly drafted and with all the details correct (although courts will sometimes overlook minor typos).
I would suggest that to start with you take our free Which Possession Proceedings Guide which will take you through the options and let you know which one is most suitable for you.
If you join Landlord Law (as a Business Level member) you will then be able to use our step by step eviction guide. This will (on current prices) cost you £350 for the year, but it is cheaper than using solicitors.
Remember that if you do it all yourself but get things wrong this can end up costing you a lot more than the cost of using solicitors would have done, as it will take you months longer to evict your tenant and you could be ordered to pay your tenants legal costs. As explained in this post here.
And finally (added after prompt from comments)
As is rightly pointed out by Alan in the comments – you should contact the local benefits office and ask for the benefit to be paid directly to you so the arrears do not increase. You have the right to do this once the arrears are 8 weeks or more.
Can’t believe I forgot to add that!
The landlord should also be contacting UC with evidence of arrears to see if a direct payment can be set up to minimise rental loss while the process of taking possession unfolds.
Thanks Alan, I have now amended the post!
The landlord needs to apply online using form UC47 available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-landlord-request-for-a-managed-payment-or-rent-arrears-deduction
I have to ask why a landlord doesn’t have sufficient cash reserves to pay the ~£1500 it costs for Landlord Action to carry out the eviction (based on their fixed fee price list on their website).
What are they going to do if a boiler breaks and needs replacing?
Could it be the £2500+ that the tenant has not paid?
If the landlord is based in Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire they can contact a new landlord service launched by DASH services called ‘Call before you Serve’. For more details https://www.dashservices.org.uk/Shared-Services/CallBeforeYouServe