Here is a question to the blog clinic from Amir who is a landlord
My problem is that we have tenants that don’t pay on time and often lie about their reason.
My father under the agreed contract he made with them says he can evict them under short notice (same day).
He wants to remove them or lock doors if they don’t pay as they promised under contract rules, can he do that or must he give 1-2 month notice.
Answer
I know it is very frustrating when tenants fail to pay rent, but that is one of the hazards of being a landlord.
Unfortunately, whatever you agree with the tenants regarding your right to evict on short notice, this will be overridden by the tenants rights under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.
Under this Act, residential tenants (with a few exceptions) MUST be evicted via court order. Otherwise (for example if you go in and change the locks) you can be prosecuted under the criminal law and/or your tenants can bring a claim for compensation and an injunction to let them back into the property.
To get a court order you first need to serve a (valid) section 21 notice and wait for the notice period to expire (two months as you point out), or if the rent arrears are two months / eight weeks or more, serve a notice under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988. You then need to issue the relevant proceedings at the County Court for an order for possession.
The whole process of evicting tenants is quite time consuming and will generally take in the region of 3 to six months (or sometimes more). You can see an example of the time it takes from a real life example I did a few years ago (when I still did eviction work) here.
The best thing to do is just to get the notices served asap and then deal with all the procedures promptly.
With all due respect Amir I would double check your father’s TDP stuff is 1200% perfect before doing anything – if it isn’t and the tenants do anything about it he’ll be apoplectic!!
Amir I’m a working Tenancy Relations Officer. If the tenants came in to my office saying they had just been evicted without a court order I would a) Nip to the local county court and obtain an injunction for re-entry and kick start a claim for damages. The injunction would most likely contain a penal notice for committal to prison should the landlord ignore the order or b) nip around to the property with a locksmith and force entry,also starting a civil claim for damages.
Then I would decide whether or not to instigate a criminal prosecution.
What your father’s tenancy agreement proposes is THAT serious, believe me.
I find it astounding that a landlord would be so ignorant and think that a clause he puts in the tenancy agreement overrides statutory housing law. Although I know such landlords exist. I’ve had one and she even claimed to have a law degree.
If tenants persistently pay rent late issue a Section 21 and/or a Section 8 Ground 11. Don’t take the law into your own hands. Look at how you reference prospective tenants and see if you can improve.