Housing and Homelessness

HOUSING

When landlords want to evict tenants from their property, they must first serve the tenant with an eviction notice, as this is required by law. There are two chief methods to gain back property, Section 8 and Section 21 Notices as you cannot evict a tenant without an order from the court, which are used in different situations, although sometimes both can be issued.

Section -8 Notice under Housing act 1988

This section 8 notice is used by a landlord wanting to give notice to terminate an Assured Short hold Tenancy (AST) in England & Wales (under the Housing Act), but this section 8 notice form can only be used when the tenant is in rent arrears of at least two months or more (or rent arrears of eight weeks for a weekly tenancy).
By using this section 8 notice form, not only can a landlord start the process of gaining possession of a property, but a landlord can make a claim to have the rent arrears paid along with the landlord’s reasonable costs.

Section 21(1) b
For Fixed Term Tenancies

In brief, the section 21(1)b gives the tenant notice that you (Landlord) want the property back at the end of the fixed term contract(the end date stated on the tenancy agreement). It must give them at least 2 months’ notice leading up to this date.
1 – It is pointless posting a Section 21 to the tenant without taking a copy! So print out the form, sign and date it, take a photocopy for yourself and send the original to the Tenant. Remember, if this goes to court, the Judge will ask for a copy of the Section 21!
2 – Everything on the Section 21 must be exact. You will notice that at the bottom the Section 21, the dates requiring possession are in word format. This is to avoid any potential misreading. As well, the judge may be strict and say the Section 21 is invalid if you misspell your name (as the tenants may not have known who to pay the rent to!?) or likewise it goes without saying he will dismiss it if you misspell the tenants name. It also needs to coincide with the Tenancy Agreement so if you have put Mr A Smith on the Tenancy Agreement, do not change that to Andy Smith on the Section 21.

Section 21(4)a For Periodic Tenancies

When the fixed term ends, tenancies automatically become Periodic Tenancies unless a further fixed term is agreed and a new agreement signed.
If you’re tenant is in a periodic tenancy (sometimes referred to as a rolling contract) and you require possession of the property, you will need to serve a section (4) a.
The section 21(4) a gives your tenant a minimum of 2 months’ notice to vacate, ending on the last day of a tenancy period (the date before the rent day).
The tenant, one of the tenants, or a person acting on behalf of the tenant has given false information to the landlord which resulted in the landlord granting the tenant the tenancy.
When issuing a section 8 notice to quit on a tenant it is advisable to make use of all grounds that apply. This is because not only are certain grounds considered discretionary, but also certain grounds are often hard to prove.

Residence and Contact (Section 8 Orders Under Children Act 1989) 
A Residence Order determines with whom a child should live and a Contact Order determines whom the child should see. Specific Issue Orders deal with matters involving the exercise of parental responsibility and Prohibited Steps Orders are to restrict a person with parental responsibility being able to exercise it in a particular way.
Section 8 Orders and were created by the Children Act 1989 to assist couples in certain disputes involving their children. We offer – advice, assistance and representation where such Orders are appropriate and can help you make your own application. Parents or guardians of a child can apply for these orders as can any person who holds parental responsibility for the child. In addition other categories of persons including Grandparents can also apply for these orders, but permission of the court will have to be obtained in their case.A Section 8 Order may be made with respect to a child, i.e. someone who is under the age of 18 years. Section 8 Order can’t be made in respect of an unborn child

HOMELESSNESS

Legally homeless
You may be legally homeless if:

1. you’ve no legal right to live in accommodation anywhere in the world
2. you can’t get into your home – for example, because your landlord has locked you out it’s not reasonable to stay in your home – for example, because of violence or risk of violence
3. you’re forced to live apart from your family or from someone you would normally live with because your accommodation is not suitable
4. you’re living in very poor conditions – for example, your accommodation is so bad it‘s damaging your health.

The council must arrange a settled home for you if you’re:

1. legally homeless through no fault of your own
2. eligible for assistance
3. in priority need

The council should arrange somewhere for you to live until they can offer you a settled home. This temporary accommodation could be in a house, flat, hostel or bed and breakfast hotel.

Whatever your housing problem we can help ensure that the council treats your application swiftly and fairly.
has considerable experience of challenging council housing decisions. We can advise you on your rights and, if necessary, help you take your case to court.
This process of challenging local authority decisions is known as ‘judicial review’.