Section 21/8 notice/how to get my tenants out!

[flipper]

HI all,

i'll try and keep this short..... Hope someone out there can advise me.

My property is rented to tenants who have been there since jan 09. originally the let was arranged through an agency, who I had all kinds of trouble with, and the agency has now gone bump (or so they claim) taking 2 months of rent and my tenants deposit with them.

i did not gain a new AST with another agency, and so now it is a periodic tenancy, or so i understand. (please correct me if not).
My tenants have allowed me access to my property whenever I have been to collect post/rent, even though I made it clear at the outset that they are not obliged to do this at all. So this is their choice.

Anyhow, my visits to the property have made it clear to me that they are not taking care of it, and have gouged a chunk out of my flooring in one of rooms, and are slowly but surely wrecking the lovely home i once had...

I want to evict them but am struggling with how..... Am I right in thinking that I need to put another deposit out of my own pocket into a TDS before I can serve notice? A section 8 notice is usually for rent arrears? and they are paying on time... do I serve a 21, under discretionary grounds 13? And how do i prevent them from getting this deposit once i've done this?

I know i'm likely to have to see a solicitor, but thought i'd ask here first.

I won't be re-letting it, as am intending now to sell it, but will probably have to pay out about £1000 of my own money to get my property back to the standard that it was, as can't see a way to get them to pay.

Any help gratefully appreciated, and this will teach me for having gone with that agency in the first place, against all of my gut instincts.

thanks,

flipper.