This is a question to the blog clinic from Ramnik who is a landord
I am a landlord with a tenant that has accumulated rental arrears of c. 7 months. After serving a section 8 notice, I finally have a county court order for possession for the property on 27 December 2011.
Unfortunately I am getting conflicting views from a number of solicitors as to what actions I am able to take on the day if the tenant has not vacated the property and what to do if the tenant is not at the property but has left possessions at the property.
I am looking to see what people’s experience has been with respect to my ability as the landlord to change the locks on the property if I find that the tenants are not at the property but they have either:
(a) left all their possessions at the property
(b) left only some of their possessions but removed key items such as beds, sofas etc.
(c) left nothing at the property.
In either of these cases, if the tenant nor any other person is at the property am I safe to assume possession of the property or do I need something from the tenant confirming they have vacated the property.
To the extent that I am legally allowed to change the locks if possession are left behind at the property, what obligation am i under with respect to these possessions?
Hi Ramnik, sorry about the delay in putting your quesiton online but we have a bit of a backlog just now. I expect you have sorted this out now but I will make a few comments anyway to help others in the same situation.
The first thing to say is that the ONLY safe way (ie the only way to avoid completely any claim for unlawful eviction) is to use the County Court Bailiffs (or the High Court Sheriffs).
There is a bit of a delay for a bailiffs appointment in many courts so it is generally best to apply as soon as the date for possession is past. There is a fee currently of £110.
However you are normally safe to go in and change the locks if the tenant has removed all his possessions AND left the keys behind. Leaving the keys is generally considered a sign of giving up possession, so if they have not been left you always need to be a bit careful.
My view is as you have gone to all the trouble of getting a possession order, it is probably worth waiting and getting a bailiffs appointment unless it is very clear that the tenant has vacated.
As regards the possessions left behind, you need to comply with the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 – Ben did a post about this a while back which you can see here.