how long does an eviction notice take?

notwithit??

My neighbour of 10 years has emigrated and rented her house, Although they have only been in for 3 months, the new tenants are a ticking timebomb!
The landlord (our old neighbour ) has been in touch to say that they have been evicted from every other house they have rented for abusive/threatening behaviour, it took 2 years for the council to evict them from council property so they can only rent private now, obviously she didnt know their background before....she has told us she is serving them with an eviction notice and to sit tight, she also said to tell all the other neighbours not to complain or even speak to him as he just does things to aggrevete people and then when they complain he makes their lives a living hell! He has already started with the aggravating...but i wont list them.
I have been reading on here that the tennants have more rights than the landlords in most circumstances, so will it be as easy as to just sit tight??or are we looking at a long stretch? i cant bring myself to come home most days,its got that bad, i have been physically sick with worry over what he's going to do next.
Please tell me he could be out by xmas???

N79

The earlist possible date for the notice to expire will be six months after the start of the tenancy (assuming the ts are paying the rent and it is a 6 month tenancy.) Eviction will take a further 6 months (4 if lucky with courts and baliffs).

notwithit??

ok, thanks, so its prob gonna be next summer.
The landlord says she has got her soliciter onto it but has not said the length of the tennancy agreement, can they serve eviction at anytime during the agreement or do they have to wait to the end of it?

N79

They can serve the notice at any time but it can not expire until the end of the fixed period of the agreement (or 6 months, whichever is longer).

If T is not paying rent then notice period is 2 weeks once 2 months rent is unpaid. Same eviction time for court and baliffs though.

clutton_2

Provided the tenant is paying their rent, if the solicitor issues a section 21 now (a notice to quit) they cannot take it to court until that notice is finished - and that cannot be until the last day of the tenancy - so 3 months.

At that point the solicitor makes a court application for a Possession Date

It could take the judge a couple of days (if the sols use an accelerated possession claim) to issue a notice to the tenant

The Tenant then has 14 days to respond.

If no response the sol goes back to the court to ask for a date for possession

the judge will give a date (probably within in a couple of days) That date may b e either 14 days or 28 days from then - the maximum he can give is 42 days


the tenant does not have to move out on that date - the solicitor then has to go back to court to ask for a Bailiff's warrant and depending on how long the bailiffs list is (could be 4-5-6-8- weeks) THAT is finally when the tenant has to leave

princeofpounds

Tenant's don't 'have more rights' than landlords... they have totally different rights and how you quantify them I don't know!

Tenants under AST contracts have 6 months security of tenure only unless the landlord agrees to give them more, and 2 months if they cannot pay rent. Given that only 40yrs ago you used to regularly get lifetime assured tenancies I would suggest that you need to educate yourself a little before making such statements.

There are 2 types of eviction commonly used. One is non-discretionary (the judge must order it) and involves the termination of the tenancy from the end of the fixed period of the contract (although there is a legal 6 month minimum). You might here this referred to as Section 21, which relates to the notice that they have to serve.

The other is discretionary (the judge can give the tenant a second chance) and can be used at any point once there is 2 months rent overdue or other delinquent behaviour (there are multiple grounds it can be served). This is often referred to as Section 8.

Once these notices are served (and expire, in the case of 21) then they have to wait a few weeks for a court date, and if the order is given, a few more weeks for a court bailiff. This wait can be short or long depending on how overstretched your area is.

The absolutely critical thing is that your former neighbour manages the process correctly, as a procedural error can require starting all over again. You can educate yourself here or on landlordzone about these procedures, or a lawyer can help also.

If it is that bad with not paying rent and the notice has already been served them you might be talking before christmas. If they are keeping up with rent then it will be minimum 7-8 months from the start of the tenancy.

If you have confidence the process is going correctly then sitting tight might be the right thing to do as apart from going down some kind of ASBO route there isn't much else that can help you.

Bufger

Sounds like a complete idiot. I'd be tempted to ask your old neighbour for a spare key so a few of your friends can go around and then follow it up with a cleanup squad.

a pimple on the butt of society

clutton_2

but an aggressive pimple with legal rights ......

notwithit??

Thank you so much for your words of wisdom!! i feel much more relaxed now i know this information.