UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi,
I have had a tenant for a while now who was in rental arrears in 2022, after obtaining a possession order and bailiffs writ of eviction this tenant pleaded to allow to stay that they would pay up. I allowed the tenant to stay but in August 2023 they had not finished paying up so I activated the bailiffs again. This was taken to court and the tenant was given till December 2023 to pay by the judge, they didn't although they paid over 70 percent at the time in December they had not fully cleared it. Now they entered into a breathing space which expired but before the breathing space ended they fully paid all arrears. Now I don't want them anymore after the long arrears issue, they stayed 18 months in total after the arrears and paid all their current monthly rent in time whilst also paying the arrears and have been in the property for 10 years now but I don't want this tenant anymore. If I get the bailiffs again would it be illegal?

In theory, the possession order should still be valid. The bailiffs won't do anything illegal.

It's possible that you have created a new tenancy since the possession order was granted. You need some proper professional legal advice.

Letting the tenants stay after getting a possession order and organizing bailiffs was a daft thing to do.

I agree with JPK

I have not seen the Order but it is likely that the it ended the Tenancy, you could ask the Bailiffs or you could try to escalate the Order to High Court enforcement. Neither will act illegally, just give them the paperwork, in most cases the debt is seen separately from the occupancy. 

First issue is whether the Court Order ended an AST that had not already become an SPT or if there was already an SPT, if it was already an SPT then I think they may go for it. 

It might have also taken the deposit into account and authorised you to release it from the DPS or other scheme.

If you want rid of the Tenant and there is no fault, you can use the Section 21 route but make sure you get all the prerequisites done or any defects corrected.

Quote from: Hotaru on June 17, 2024, 06:31:30 PMHi,
I have had a tenant for a while now who was in rental arrears in 2022, after obtaining a possession order and bailiffs writ of eviction this tenant pleaded to allow to stay that they would pay up. I allowed the tenant to stay but in August 2023 they had not finished paying up so I activated the bailiffs again. This was taken to court and the tenant was given till December 2023 to pay by the judge, they didn't although they paid over 70 percent at the time in December they had not fully cleared it. Now they entered into a breathing space which expired but before the breathing space ended they fully paid all arrears. Now I don't want them anymore after the long arrears issue, they stayed 18 months in total after the arrears and paid all their current monthly rent in time whilst also paying the arrears and have been in the property for 10 years now but I don't want this tenant anymore. If I get the bailiffs again would it be illegal?

The order on its own can't end the tenancy, the tenancy remains "live" until the bailiffs execute their warrant. So I don't think that a periodic tenancy can have arisen.

But that's way above my confidence level about this situation. Having possession of a court order and deciding to do the opposite of what you've petitioned the court to allow is such an odd thing to do, I have no real idea what the situation is.

The possession order might still technically hold, but allowing the tenant to stay and taking payments could mean you unintentionally started a new tenancy. This might stop the bailiffs from acting. So, it's best to get legal advice to figure out your position