Accelerated possession procedure

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Landlords who need to evict tenants will need to serve notice correctly and then obtain a possession order from the court before they can proceed.

In this article we look at the pros and cons of choosing the accelerated possession procedure, which can be a faster option. However, it may not be used in all circumstances.

When you can use the accelerated possession procedure

To use the accelerated possession procedure, the following must apply:

– The tenant is on an assured shorthold tenancy in England or Wales
– The tenant moved into the property after 15th January 1989
– You must have given the tenants at least 2 months’ notice under section 21 of the Housing Act and they have not left by the date specified
– If you took a money deposit, you must have put it in a deposit protection scheme
– You are not claiming rent arrears
– When you apply to court for accelerated possession, your tenants will be sent a copy of the application by the court and they will have 14 days from the date of receipt to challenge it.

The application will be reviewed by a judge, who can then decide whether to award the possession order without the need for a hearing. If the tenant has serious grounds for defence, the judge is likely to set a court hearing, after which he will decide on whether to award the possession order.

If the possession order is awarded, the judge will normally give the tenants 14 to 28 days to leave the property.

The pros

The main advantage is that the accelerated possession procedure can be a faster way of recovering your property to re-let it, providing all the conditions are met.

The court fee is the same for both the accelerated and standard possession procedure. At the time of writing the court fee is £355.

Possession Claim Online, POCL, does not apply, as it can only be used for possessions where there are rent or mortgage arrears.

The cons

You cannot claim for rent arrears. If you do have arrears to recover, you will need to either use the standard possession procedure or make a separate court claim for the arrears. It is worth bearing in mind, though, that it can be challenging to recover rent arrears from tenants in financial difficulties.

If your tenant is on a fixed-term tenancy, you cannot evict them until the fixed term has ended. If it is a periodic tenancy, the procedure can only be used after the first six months have passed. This can make the notice period significantly longer than two months.

If you make any mistakes or omissions in either the service of the section 21 notice or the application to court, the judge is likely to dismiss the application, which may mean that you have to ask for a hearing or start the process again.

If the tenants claim exceptionally difficult circumstances, the judge is permitted to give them up to 6 weeks to leave the property, instead of 14 to 28 days..

Enforcement

If tenants do not leave after the date provided on the possession order, you will then need to decide whether to action to evict the tenants. You can either use the County Court bailiffs or request leave to use a High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO).

You can apply under section 42 of the County Courts Act 1984 for permission to transfer the possession order to the High Court for enforcement by an HCEO. The best time to apply for permission is when making the initial application for the possession order.

The decision is likely to be influenced by the need for speed. County Court bailiffs will be cheaper, but in many courts, especially the busier ones, it may mean a wait of several weeks for an appointment for the eviction.

On the other hand, HCEOs will normally obtain the writ within days and enforce as soon as possible thereafter.

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Guardian Money Editor Roasted On Twitter

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Feathers have certainly been flying on Twitter following our article yesterday featuring an Appalled Landlords rebuttal of claims of 1,400% BTL returns suggested by Patrick Collinson “Guardian of Housing Ignorance“, who has since copped for a roasting on Twitter from angered landlords.

If you use Twitter you can re-tweet or join the discussion via the interactive embedded Twitter links below.

Exaggerating the success of businesses is done to whip up jealousy against ‘capitalists.’ It’s very destructive. @pcollinson

— Rosalind Beck (@RosalindBeck) August 21, 2017

Collinson is well known in the property community as a half wit peddling a political agenda without ever resorting to any actual facts.

— TheLandlordWhisperer (@landlordwhisprr) August 21, 2017

He also wants landlords out of the market but complains bitterly when the homeless figures go up as a result! And then blames landlords!

— TheLandlordWhisperer (@landlordwhisprr) August 21, 2017

Really, you couldn’t make up his idiocy or hypocrisy. Where does he think the evicted tenants will go when LLs have to sell? He doesn’t say.

— TheLandlordWhisperer (@landlordwhisprr) August 21, 2017

He also wants landlords out of the market but complains bitterly when the homeless figures go up as a result! And then blames landlords!

— TheLandlordWhisperer (@landlordwhisprr) August 21, 2017

Maybe he thinks homeless tenants will miraculously find deposits and qualify for mortgages to buy?

— The Landlords Union (@Property118) August 21, 2017

Probably can’t reconcile the idea of properties being boarded up and laying empty whilst development stops in it’s tracks without landlords

— The Landlords Union (@Property118) August 21, 2017

Does he not realise that new blocks don’t get built in the first place without investor money? You’d think someone like him would know that.

— TheLandlordWhisperer (@landlordwhisprr) August 21, 2017

The thought of properties laying empty and less development might be too much for his tiny brain to comprehend whilst homelessness rises

— Mark Alexander (@iAmALandlord) August 21, 2017

That’s right, because being made homeless automatically qualifies you for a mortgage under these new, stricter lending rules.

— TheLandlordWhisperer (@landlordwhisprr) August 21, 2017

And you never ever get CCJs as a result of being evicted. Never. It's an automatic win for every tenant. Sec 24 helps with this no end!

“Those drawing on wealth or income from additional properties are disproportionately rich and wealthy”

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The Resolution Foundation, a Tory think tank with former cabinet minister and Conservative lord David Willetts as executive chair, has published an article concluding that “those drawing on wealth or income from additional properties are disproportionately rich and wealthy.”

Click here to read the full article.

The article states there is a case for further action beyond Stamp Duty surcharges for second homes and Section 24 mortgage interest relief reductions, because “the younger generations are failing to accumulate wealth at anything like the rate of their predecessors.”

They advocate:

• Greater regulation of the PRS
• Increased security of tenure for tenants
• Further taxation on very affluent people
• Implementing the White Paper commitment to tackle empty homes

“These are options and challenges our Intergenerational Commission will continue to explore, because from the perspective of many of Britain’s real ordinary folk who still desire to own their home but find doing so increasingly out of reach, one house would be enough.”

Their policies are based on the rise of second and multiple property owners against the decline of main residence home owners in the last 15 years.

The figures cited are that the share of British adults in families with any property wealth fell 8%, whilst the share with multiple property wealth increased by 30%.

However, they admit that when looking at property wealth trends they have not even taken into account the net wealth after finance!

The report said: “Disregarding mortgage debt (because of difficulties in identifying which properties mortgages are secured against), the assets held in second or additional properties had a gross value of £760 billion in 2012-14 (adjusted to 2017 prices) – that’s 15% of the £5.2 trillion held in gross property wealth overall. This equates to an average of £150,000 per adult with multiple sources of property wealth, a 20% increase since 2000-02. With average net total wealth just over £200,000 in 2012-14, and typical (median) wealth just £84,000, owning multiple properties clearly represents a huge wealth boost.”

This report is looking at the symptoms of the disease and not the disease which is quite simply a failure of supply to keep up with demand increasing prices beyond wage inflation. Economics 101 surely?

There has been a total failure by government in the last 20 years to build or help create the environment to build, enough properties year on year to the point where we are now.

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Tenant threatening to sue!! Help!

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In 2015 I rented my property to a family friend who came to me this year explaining about damp and mould. I went to check and my Tenant was telling the truth it was had. It was a reoccurring issue in the property.

Due to personal financial problems I was unable to have all the work done at one time, but did begin to have the issues dealt with.

After some time I realised that realistically the property was going to be a constant financial drain and that selling it may be a better idea.

August 12 of this year I wrote a note to my Tenant asking her and her family to leave the property in 4 weeks so I could commence the repairs that needed doing. As her father (the joint Tenant) is a family friend I handed it to her get it signed and dated and explained that I wished to sell the property after repairing it.

Anyway yesterday the Tenant came to my property posting a letter, upon reading it I found out that she planned to sue me for an illegal eviction notice.

Apparently it has to be done on a section 21 form or section 8, that she planned to sue me for planning to illegally evict her. For breach of contract (the tenancy agreement) which states I must repair all damages to the structure if not caused by the Tenant, for renting a property that I knew had previous Damp problems, for the damages caused to her property as a direct result of the damp within the property, for stress and worry caused as a direct result of me asking them to move in 4 weeks.

She actually put at the bottom of the note that trying to illegally evict someone can actually carry a prison sentence of up to two years.

My Tenant must be kidding right?

Surely she has no case for any of this?

I agree there was a damp and black mould issue, but she repainted with an anti mould additive.

And she was a family friend!

Thank

Neel

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House prices climbing “out of reach”…

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House Price Index:

The average house has increased in price in the UK by £10,000 over the past year, that’s according to official figures just released, and estate agents are warning that the affordability of houses in the UK is putting home purchases beyond reach for many people.

In June this year the average property price was £223,257, compared with £214,000 in June a year earlier, that according to the latest figures just released by the Office for National Statistics.

Taken on a month-by-month basis, house prices were up nearly £2000 on average, though the speed of growth has marginally slowed. Prices increased by 4.9pc in the year to June 2017, compared to 5pc in the year to May, and the ONS figures show growth had stayed flat in 2017 at around 5pc.

Chief executive of London-based estate agent Haart Paul Smith told the Daily Telegraph, that these price rises have caused a 20pc dip in first-time buyer registrations in its branches in the past year:

“Along with consumer price hikes and falling wage growth, unaffordability is reaching crisis point,” he said.

The East of England showed the biggest increase where average prices climbed 7.2pc to £286,623 and there was almost the same growth, of 7.1pc, in the East Midlands.

North East prices saw the smallest annual growth at 2.5pc, while prices in London were up 2.9pc over the year. On a monthly basis, the average London house price fell by 0.7pc in June, to £481,556.

The UK recently published House Price Index shows house price changes for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The latest available June data shows:

• an annual price increase of 4.9% which takes the average property value in the UK to £223,257
• house prices have risen by 0.8% since May 2017
• the monthly index figure for the UK was 117.1
• in England, an annual price increase of 5.2% which takes the average property value to £240,325. Monthly house prices have risen by 0.8% since May 2017
• in Wales, an annual price increase of 3.6% which takes the average property value to £151,672. Monthly house prices have risen by 2.9% since May 2017
• in London shows an annual price increase of 2.9% which takes the average property value to £481,556. Monthly house prices have fallen by 0.7% since May 2017

The regional data indicates that:

• the East of England experienced the greatest increase in average property price over the last 12 months, with a movement of 7.2%
• Yorkshire and the Humber experienced the greatest monthly price growth with an increase of 2.2%
• the North East saw the lowest annual price growth with an increase of 2.5%
• London saw the most significant monthly price fall of 0.7%

The UK Property Transaction statistics showed that in June 2017 the number of seasonally adjusted property transactions completed in the UK with a value of £40,000 or above increased by 1% compared with June 2016. Comparing June 2017 with May 2017, property transactions fell by 3.3%. See the economic statement.

Sales during April 2017, the most up-to-date HM Land Registry figures available, show that:

• the number of completed house sales in England rose by 1.6% to 53,410 compared with 52,590 in April 2016
• the number of completed house sales in Wales rose by 9.9% to 3,101 compared with 2,822 in April 2016
• the number of completed house sales in London rose by 1.3% to 5,823 compared with 5,746 in April 2016
• there were 510 repossession sales in England in April 2017
• there were 52 repossession sales in Wales in April 2017
• the lowest number of repossession sales in England and Wales in April 2017 was in the East of England

To get the full report click here

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