The rental market is a lucrative industry and has been for some time. In recent years, though, the rental market has exploded large thanks to the fast-growing housing market, and the fall in affordability for first-time buyers.
The rental market has also become more divisive in recent years, as landlords owning vast portfolios of properties come under fire for contributing to an affordability crisis for younger households. Smaller landlords, largely comprising families able to turn their first home into a rental property, have been caught in the crossfire – and face challenges of their own when it comes to safely managing a property in a time of economic crisis for millions, especially when evicting tenants.
It is always wise to consider taking out Landord Insurance as a safeguard.
The Cost of Living
For many first-time landlords, the meagre rent brought in by their first home is nothing short of a vital stimulus; household budgets, decimated by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, are buoyed by shrewd investments made pre-pandemic. But not all rentals are smooth, and sometimes tenants can bring difficulties of their own.
When it comes to no win no fee housing disrepair solicitors, legal experts Mashroom have been inundated with enquiries from landlords unable to conduct repairs safely and compliantly. For the first-time landlord, what are the rules surrounding eviction?
Eviction
Eviction is the process of removing tenants from a rental property. According to housing charity Shelter, over 14,000 landlords began eviction proceedings against tenants between October and December of 2021 alone.
There are various reasons for which a landlord may want to remove a tenant, from breakdowns in communication to failure to pay rent on time. But not all reasons are good enough to warrant eviction proceedings, and tenants rightfully enjoy comprehensive legal protections that prevent unreasonable eviction.
Of course, these protections can occasionally cause issues for landlords, especially when it comes to the non-payment of rent or the destruction of property. Where the law can ensure you eventually have your property returned, it cannot ensure you are ever completely reimbursed in the event of a failed tenancy – something which makes landlord insurance a useful expense when it comes to eviction and damages.
The Legality of Eviction
Unless the tenant in question is a lodger, a landlord cannot simply instruct a tenant to end their tenancy. Rather, the landlord must follow a strict legal process to ensure an eviction is conducted lawfully and successfully.
There are two principal routes to eviction: the issuance of a Section 21 notice, or the issuance of a Section 8 notice. A Section 21 notice is used if you wish to have the property returned to you after a fixed term, or if you wish to end a rolling tenancy. This may be a result of ending their landlord status, through selling the home or returning it to private use.
Section 8 notices are used when evicting tenants who have broken the rental agreement through non-payment of rent, the destruction of landlord property or the failure to meet other conditions of the rental agreement.
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