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Section 21 / 8 advice please

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  • theartfullodger
    theartfullodger Posts: 15,691 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 31 January 2023 at 6:01PM
    An s8g10 may be validly served if only 1p is underpaid for rent for only 1 day.  Cheap simple way to send message to tenant.

    But only take to court when 2 months unpaid.  Unless long term pattern of rent arrears.


    'sfunny how many "gurus" appear unaware of this.. 
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    An s8g10 may be validly served if only 1p is underpaid for rent for only 1 day.  Cheap simple way to send message to tenant.

    But only take to court when 2 months unpaid.  Unless long term pattern of rent arrears.


    'sfunny how many "gurus" appear unaware of this.. 
    Don't you think that 6 months arrears counts as a 'long-term pattern'?
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • theartfullodger
    theartfullodger Posts: 15,691 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 31 January 2023 at 9:07PM
    macman said:
    An s8g10 may be validly served if only 1p is underpaid for rent for only 1 day.  Cheap simple way to send message to tenant.

    But only take to court when 2 months unpaid.  Unless long term pattern of rent arrears.


    'sfunny how many "gurus" appear unaware of this.. 
    Don't you think that 6 months arrears counts as a 'long-term pattern'?
    Of course: But the point I was making was OP could have started sending messages to tenant & legal processes as soon as 1p was owing.. Only costs a stamp & a bit of paper. 
  • GJB1980
    GJB1980 Posts: 14 Forumite
    10 Posts
    GJB1980 said:
    To be honest this has been a major headache I'm now financially struggling myself because I've had to borrow money from my dad to keep paying the mortgage on the rented house , I just want them out and then I'll sell the property and hopefully that then will be enough to clear theortgage and pay my dad back what I owe him 

    Can a judge allow them to stay in there if the direct payment is set up , there's no way they'd be able to pay the 3k + arrears 
    No, a judge couldn’t do that with a correctly issued Section 21 or Section 8 ground 8. The court has to award you a possession. The best the tenants could hope for is an extension of 42 days. 
    I don't mind the extension as long as I know ill regain back possession of the house over the next few months 

    The rent arrears I know I'll never get back and to be honest I wouldn't be bothered as long ad there gone and I've got the house back , I look at it like this yes they owe me a few grand but I've had 10+ years where they have paid rent so it's not always been bad just a bit messy now trying get rid of them
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    'Next few months' will depend on the court delays, there were huge backlogs for possession orders: it could be 4 months before you even get to court. So, the sooner you serve, the better. Just make sure the tenancy is regularised before you do, otherwise you'll be back to square one if the tenant challenges the S21 successfully.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • GJB1980
    GJB1980 Posts: 14 Forumite
    10 Posts
    Thanks everyone I'm getting everything in place here now with section 8 and 21 as I know she's going to drag her feet and make this as hard as possible for me to re gain possession back of my house 

    The 5 year electric check was done about 5 months ago however after speaking with my wife I'm not sure if we give her a copy of the certificate , got a copy here nowso would you pop that in with the section 8 + 21 

    What's the procedure regarding these being sent as she won't comply with filling the housing forms amd posting them back so what's to say she'll ignore these section 8 & 21 forms 
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 2 February 2023 at 4:26PM
    It doesn't matter if she ignores them, or even if she never receives them. All you need to demonstrate to the court is that service was valid, which is deemed to be 2 working days after sending 1st class. Get a proof of posting and that's all you need to do.
    If she ignores everything and doesn't show in court, you win by default, as long as everything in the tenancy is regularised.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • GJB1980 said:


    What's the procedure regarding these being sent as she won't comply with filling the housing forms amd posting them back so what's to say she'll ignore these section 8 & 21 forms 
    Well she can of course ignore them but that's not going to help her when she fails to turn up at court.

    Just make sure you have proofof service. Either hand deliver (take a witness? or photo of you [uting them through letter box with that day's newspaper showing) or post duplicates from 2 different post offices with 'proof of posting'

    Belt and braces.


  • One extra point, each tenant needs a separate notice. Do use the notices on the gov website and follow to the letter. 

    If you’re an NRLA member, they have a helpline to call. 


  • GJB1980
    GJB1980 Posts: 14 Forumite
    10 Posts
    Thanks everyone I'm off work now for a few days so just getting everything together to get this done 

    I'm using the free section 8 & 21 templates from the law depot.co.uk

    On the section 8 template it gives me options of all the grounds  groud 8 of the notice it states " the tenant will not have paid the equivalent of 2 months rent ( or 3 months rent if rent us paid quarterly) , it's asking why ground 8 is being relied on , do I need to be very specific here what is owed or do I just put over 2 months rent oweing , also do I tick the other grounds 

    Should I also use ground 13 too because of the condition and the state the house is currently in due to them not looking after the property and the excess number of people living in there who shouldn't be 

    On the section 21 notices template it's giving me 2 different options of either fixed term or periodic term , the contracts always been a rolling contract so am I correct in just giving the fixed notice 

    I just want to make sure everything is correct so hopefully everything goes smoothly 
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