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Gaining Possession of Properties let as Assured Shorthold Tenancies. An Order of the Court must be obtained before a landlord is entitled to take back possession. However this will usually be given automatically unless special circumstances arise, and often an accelerated possession procedure will be used. This procedure only applies to claims to recover possession against an assured shorthold tenant when the fixed period of the tenancy has come to an end. The assured shorthold tenancy must have been entered into on or after 15th January 1989. The claim must be for just possession (i.e. not rent arrears). There must be a written tenancy agreement in existence and a section 21 notice requiring possession must have been served on the tenant, giving 2 months notice, which expired before the application was made to the court. An application must be made to the County Court in the district where the property is located. It is necessary to exhibit a copy of the section 21 notice requiring possession with the court papers. An application should be made using form N5B. The tenant may file a defence within 14 days of receiving the court documents. If the tenant fails to file a defence within this period, the landlord can request that the possession order be made forthwith and without a Hearing. A possession order will usually take affect immediately, unless the court is satisfied the tenant has made out a case for exceptional hardship, in which case possession can be delayed for up to 6 weeks. When a tenant is in breach of any of the conditions of an assured shorthold tenancy, the landlord can apply for possession notwithstanding the period of the tenancy not having expired. The usual breach is non payment of rent. A notice of intention to seek possession must be served before issuing proceedings. How, much notice needs to be given will depend on which ground the Landlord uses as a reason for getting a Possession Order. Notice must be given in a Section 8 Notice, which will tell the tenants their statutory rights. Proceedings must start within 12 months of service of the Notice otherwise a new Notice must be served. If the Court is satisfied that a landlord is entitled to possession on one of the statutory grounds, or because the tenancy has come to an end, then the court must grant a possession order. This can take effect within 14 days, or can be extended for up to 6 weeks in the case of exceptional hardship. The court also has discretion once it has made a possession order to "stay" or "suspend" the possession order, postpone the date for possession until such time as it thinks fit, or to adjourn the Court proceedings. If an order is suspended or stayed, or proceedings are adjourned the court will usually make an order that arrears are paid in the meantime.

If a possession order is made then a tenant may have the following options open to them; · Apply to set aside the possession order. Good reasons may include that the tenant was not present at Court when the order was made and has a defence. Otherwise that new evidence has come to light since the Possession Order was made. The application is made to the County Court which made the Order, and must be accompanied with a witness statement explaining why the order should be set aside. · Appeal from the Order of the District Judge to a Circuit Judge.. Leave will first be required · Apply to Suspend or Stay any warrant taken out to enforce a possession order. This is usually done to buy more time in order to pay the arrears or to buy more time to apply to set aside the order

If a tenant wishes to stop an eviction by a bailiff then he must act quickly, and apply for a Stay of Execution. The tenant may be able to delay possession proceedings if for example: · The court paperwork produced by the landlord is defective. · The landlord has served the tenant with a possession notice which is not correct either because the information on it is incorrect or the wrong form has been used or the notice has a ground for possession written on it and the landlord relies on a different ground at court. However, since the Housing Act 1996 came into force Courts now have discretion to allow possession, even if the landlord did not serve a proper notice of possession. · The landlord started court proceedings earlier than they were allowed to by law. · The tenant did not receive any notice of possession from the landlord before they started proceedings. However the court can still make a possession order although the tenant will be able to argue that it would be unfair for him to be evicted without notice. · The landlord has not proved the ground they are relying on, or a condition has not been satisfied. · The tenant should be given another chance and the court proceedings should be put back to allow the tenant to comply with a part of their tenancy agreement that has been breached. For example, failure to pay rent. Or that the possession order should be "suspended" so that it only comes into effect if the tenant breaks a stated promise or agreement with their landlord.

Where a landlord is seeking arrears of rent, the tenant may be able to avoid paying some or all of this if the landlord owes the tenant money. For example, the tenant has overpaid the rent previously and not received a refund.