Notice Seeking Possession

catandy

Hi


after some advice please


Im a tenant in a housing association flat (assured tenancy agreement) and have been served with a notice seeking possession by my landlord due to rent arrears of 926.55 as of 7th Feb (highest they have ever been).


My self employment dried up and I have an employed position but waiting for my first full months paycheque - ive been living on WTC of £50 pw plus and bobs from odd days etc


court proceedings will not start until after 9th March


I've made an agreement with my housing officer to pay a full months rent plus 75£ off the arrears last working day of this month (when I finally pick up a full pay cheque) then from March pay day onwards pay full months rent plus 125£ towards arrears - all of this has been accepted.


I am a bit confused as to why I am going to court unless of course it is just procedure. What are the chances of my offer of payment not being accepted at the court and the possession of my home going ahead?


the payment at the end of the month will clear, as will the payment next month - its just rubbish that I got into this damn mess - I tried to apply for housing benefit for the period that my self employment was so patchy but have had to appeal it to as they want yet more information (signed contracts from whom I was working for... my work is not that formal)..


how does this process work?


thanks in advance

[Deleted User]

What grounds are they seeking possession under? If it's for arrears then as long as you pay off enough arrears by the time of the possession hearing (so that you don't owe more than 2 months rent) possession won't be granted -- although of course they would then go for a no-fault notice.

More information needed!

Guest101

Self employed u should supply year end accounts I imagine.

Bit confused what section was served on u, u say your an assured tenant, as opposed to an assured short hold tenancy

Sorry just double checked it must've section8 the only one which can be applied

BitterAndTwisted

You need to WRITE to the housing department TOMORROW confirming the agreement you made on the phone. Include details of what you expect to be paid and when, and how much you propose to pay off the arrears and in what installments. Include the name of the person who you made the original agreement with on the phone if you have it.

God luck! Most sensible landlords won't proceed with eviction if they can see you're getting things under control. Watch out for the post in case they decide to go ahead with the eviction despite the agreement

BigAunty

The Shelter website has excellent information about the eviction process for HA/social housing tenants including how a PO can receive a judgement that suspends it (website currently down for maintenance).

KatieDee

Firstly, you're not going to court just yet. The 9th of March is just the earliest possible date that your landlord could put the case into court if that's what they wanted to do.

A notice seeking possession is basically the first step towards legal proceedings. As long as you continue to make the agreed payments, your landlord will not take you to court. Once an NSP is served, it doesn't go live for around four weeks. After this point, that is when your landlord could take you to court (on the grounds of rent arrears).

Please don't worry! It is essentially a safeguard for the landlord so if you continue to miss payments, you have had more than enough notice for them to take you to court over the arrears. It's the first step of many towards repossession and providing you meet all future agreements regularly, you shouldn't experience any issues :-)

Hope this puts your mind at rest a bit. Please feel free to PM if you have any further questions about the process.

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

You need to WRITE to the housing department TOMORROW confirming the agreement you made on the phone. Include details of what you expect to be paid and when, and how much you propose to pay off the arrears and in what installments. Include the name of the person who you made the original agreement with on the phone if you have it.

God luck! Most sensible landlords won't proceed with eviction if they can see you're getting things under control. Watch out for the post in case they decide to go ahead with the eviction despite the agreement

In addition to what BitterandTwisted has said, they do have a point and it's always safer to confirm whatever agreements have been made in writing. However, most SH providers will send you out a confirmation of the agreement just to make things clearer for you. If you want a copy and haven't had it offered to you, you can always request this from your landlord.

Edit: have you thought of making an application to Housing Benefit to cover the period in which you had a lower income? If you are eligible then they may be able to backdate it, lowering your arrears slightly :-)

catandy

section 10 which I assume is rent arrears


ref the application for housing benefit when I was on lower income from self employment I took a further raft of proof requested into the office today and they have promised to fast track my claim now that ive got my notice thru... just hope they keep to it


and have written confirmation from landlord of offer made and accepted from them to me and from me to them - which crossed in post..


and arrears on 9th march (if it does go to court on/ around that date) will be over 2 months rent - I don't get paid till the last working day of the month so I wont have time to make 2 payments and bring it down by then....


thanks for your help so far


will give shelter a call tomorrow morning I think and go thru it with them

Guest101

catandy wrote: »

section 10 which I assume is rent arrears


ref the application for housing benefit when I was on lower income from self employment I took a further raft of proof requested into the office today and they have promised to fast track my claim now that ive got my notice thru... just hope they keep to it


and have written confirmation from landlord of offer made and accepted from them to me and from me to them - which crossed in post..


and arrears on 9th march (if it does go to court on/ around that date) will be over 2 months rent - I don't get paid till the last working day of the month so I wont have time to make 2 payments and bring it down by then....


thanks for your help so far


will give shelter a call tomorrow morning I think and go thru it with them

If u are an assured tenant I believe only sec8 can be used

molerat

I assume the OP means ground 10 of the S8 so the 2 months arrears is not relevant, any amount is sufficient. On the bright side it is discretionary for the judge to award possession and not mandatory so if it does go as far as court and you can come up with an acceptable payment plan and the first payment has been made then you are in with a chance of staying.

jjlandlord

If they are only citing ground 10 and a payment plan has been agreed (and even if there was none, IMHO), beginning court proceedings would just be a waste of time and money for the landlord in terms of getting a possession order, though they should still get a money order.

Is it section 8, ground 10, or section 10? Are you in a shared accommodation?

Shelldean

we have had several letters like this, and in OUR situation. I used to call up and agree a repayment plan, similar to yourself. Next months rent plus a bit extra. And so long as we kept to the plan then no further action was ever taken. We used to also get a letter from the HA's rent officer detailing what we had agreed to.

However given what I know now, I agree with the others and I would confirm the agreement in writing myself.

but I do repeat this was our situation with our housing assoc, and I guess the differing associations will have differing terms and conditions.