Help again ... accelerated possession question

theoldcastle

I have been sent the N5B and am not defending it, only that I have longer than two weeks to pay the costs.
I received this on 20th Oct and sent the defence claim within the two weeks ( again even though am not disputing the claim by the landlord, only time for costs )
When I ring up the court they say they havent done anything because they havent heard from the LLsolicitors, when I call the LL solicitors they say the same thing, that they havent heard from the courts.Can anyone tell me that as I havent disputed the possession, would it mean that the date for possession would just go ahead? or does the LL have to do anything inbetween ? nobody seems to know the answer. I am just looking at what time frame all this happens
Thank You
Oldcastle

callmechar

What did you put on your defence form? No defence to s21 accelerated possession

There is normally no hearing, you need specific grounds to defend this

http://england.shelter.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/386462/Accelerated_possession_proceedings.pdf

callmechar

Also:

Examples of what the court can decide

If you do not return the N11B defence form within the specified time and your landlord returns the request for possession (and the judge is satisfied that he / she has met the necessary conditions) a possession order that you must leave within 14 days will be made, without a hearing.

If you return the Defence form within the specified time the judge will decide whether there needs to be a hearing or not based on the evidence presented by both sides. Needs to be for a specific reason

The judge can strike out the claim if your landlord has not complied with the all the requirements of the accelerated procedure.

An order for possession for 14 days can be made if there is no request for the judge to consider exceptional hardship.

The judge can postpone possession for up to six weeks (42 days) if he / she decides that there is exceptional hardship.

You may in some circumstances, be able to apply to set aside or vary a possession order where it was given without a hearing via the N244 court form, this would need to be submitted within 14 days of the order being served.
Warrant of eviction

If you do not leave the property within the date of the possession order your landlord can apply to evict you.

Accelerated possession procedure costs

The costs your landlord can claim with this procedure are limited to the court application fee and fixed solicitors costs (if one is used).

theoldcastle

I am not defending the eviction...only thing I put of the form was longer than 2 weeks to pay costs, as its quite a big amount the solicitor is charging, other than that I agreed with the possession . Everything is in order on the LL side , but all I need to know is, as I am not defending this, wont the possession just automatically go ahead?

N79

Yes it will. Out of interest, can you provide a full outline of why the LL is having to actual file a possession claim (ie why have you not left at the end of the notice period as is normally expected from a reasonably T)?

I am asking because a costs award against you is not mandatory and you may be able to defend the costs - but in order to do this you will need a reasonable reason for why you are making the LL go to court.

theoldcastle

N79, in reply, I was unable to find another property as I have certain needs due to mobility, I have contacted my local authority who advised me to stay put and that they could only help me if I was evicted, this wasn't a route I wanted to go down but unfortunately this is what has happened
I have contacted the LL solicitors who said that they hadnt heard anything from the court...and the court say they havent heard anything from the LL I am really confused as nobody can explain in simple terms what happens, the court is saying as they have heard nothing from the LL solicitors then nothing moves forward until the court has a "go ahead" from them, but I thought thats what the N5B was all about ? sorry if I keep repeating myself...

jjlandlord

Others will confirm, but I think that if the accelerated possession procedure is used (and no defence is filed?) the landlord can only claim court fees and fixed solicitor costs as set out by the Civil Procedures Rules.
This fixed solicitor cost is around £130, iirc.

N79

jjlandlord wrote: »

Others will confirm, but I think that if the accelerated possession procedure is used (and no defence is filed?) the landlord can only claim court fees and fixed solicitor costs as set out by the Civil Procedures Rules.
This fixed solicitor cost is around £130, iirc.

This is quite correct. The actual amount will depend on how the court papers were served and the number of Ts (each additional T raises the costs by the princely sum of GBP15 last time I checked.)