Specific Section 8 advise needed

[heather.gibson]

Hello,
I recently served a section 8 notice on my tenant on the grounds of 2 months rent arrears and not allowing me reasonable access to the flat. They have since paid me a small amount of money making the arrears less than 2months. As for access, after a great deal of anguish they finally let me in only to be abusive and ordered me out 2 minutes later. They believe they have given me access and with paying some of the rent, That I have no grounds to proceed. The visit to the flat, for me, was the last straw and I want to proceed with the section 8 and go to court. The next months rent is due in a weeks time and I would like to wait till then to see if they fail to pay the rent again. I have 2 questions I hope you can help me with, these are:

1. When the initial 2 week period is up (whereby I informed the tenant that I will be taking them to court on the grounds specified in that notice), is there a time limit by which I need to apply to the court or can it be any time after the end date given in the section 8 notice?

2. If the tenant does pay some more rent, so by the time I go to court I can only be heard on the issue of access. Do you think my ground of access will also not be heard as I was given access, though it was extremely difficult to get in the first place and resulted in such abuse?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[mariner]

If Ts owe less than 2mo rent at time of hearing your s8 will fail, T has right to deny access without lawful authority (repo on acess ground is non mandatory IMO. I would issue a valid s21 to run concurrent. (T seems to know the rules)

[heather.gibson]

Thanks for that advice

You stated the tenant has a right to deny access without legal authority - the tenancy agreement states the tenant should allow access at reasonable times with 24 hours written notice, is that not the case ?

I appreciate the access ground is non mandatory but I really feel at present that I need to follow through with my S8 as I have only ever sought reasonable access with notice and the tenant does not seem to accept this. Can the court do anything to try and ensure this in the future, even if they do not grant possession as I would like to not have to face what I have faced again if I need to access the property for example to do gas safety checks?

As the tennant has approx 10 months left on their contract I think the S21 would have to coincide with the end of that time, is that correct ?

Lastly I am looking at the forms for the court following the S8 notice, N119. The spaces to write details are very small, is it appropriate to add extra sheets? Should the wording be the same as the notice ie quoting the exact wording of the act? I presume I also need to give details of my case, when I have written to the tenant etc. I found some guidance notes on a government website but they didn't say much. Is there anywhere else I could get some further guidance?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Snorkerz]

I presume that as well as ground 8 you also applied under grounds 10 & 11? If your ground 8 fails you may still gain possession under those.

There are only 2 dates that matter with s8, ground 8. here must be 2 months unpaid at the time of service and there must be 2 wees unpaid at the time of the hearing. The payment status at the time of the submission to court doesn't matter.

Read the sticky on a landlords right of access to assess your chances under ground 12 - I would be suprised if a judge considers it serious enough to make someone homeless. This may be of interest too. http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2010/08/31/urban-myth-when-a-landlord-lets-a-property-its-still-his/