Regaining possession of my property

[nikd2010]

Firstly, thank you to you all for an excellent community site.

I wanted to ask what I should be doing to ensure I gain access to my property the correct way.

The tenant is in a 12 month contract, due to expire in April. But they had been in rent arrears exceeding 2 months, and basically after many weeks of reminder letters, conversations and requests, I basically wanted the tenant to leave. I'm not even bothered about the arrears.

Anyhow, just this week, the tenant has basically moved out of the property and no longer lives there - they have cleared out all of their belongings, and thankfully left the place in good condition. I wanted to get a "Deed of Surrender" signed to ensure that it was all closed off correctly, including the final meter readings, and also to get the keys back. But basically they have left the place, and are not responding to my calls to get this signed.

So, how do I go about getting possession back. Note, I'm not really concerned with the outstanding arrears, but just glad they are out and want to move on and get the property rented out again ASAP.

Thanks

[Snorkerz]

This should help
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/legal/abandonment.htm

I know you are not concerned about the arrears, but if they have assets, you should consider using the Moneyclaim service (google MCOL)

[nikd2010]

Thanks Snorkerz. That's perfect. And also, thanks for the tip on MCOL.

Cheers!

[nikd2010]

Also... I had one more question that wasn't too clear on the link.

Would I be able to re-let the property after the official end of the tenancy? So in April, in my case without having to do any court orders or anything like that?

Thanks.

[Snorkerz]

Originally Posted by nikd2010

Also... I had one more question that wasn't too clear on the link.

Would I be able to re-let the property after the official end of the tenancy? So in April, in my case without having to do any court orders or anything like that?

Thanks.

The idea of the abandonment process is to show to a court that you have made every possible attempt to respect the tenants tenancy. The only 100% safe way to regain possession is to go down the s8 or s21 route which would end up with an official court possession order.

However, if you follow the abandonment process, you should be able to re-let at the end of that process. If that happens before then end of the current tenancy then the old tenant can only be held liable for rent until the end of the current tenancy or until the new tenant moves in (whichever comes first).