Possession

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Possession

Smith v Wilson [1999]

Errors in a s. 21 notice, such as use of the wrong form and also the wrong date, are too serious for the court to be able to consider them effective notice.

The landlord served a notice of protected shorthold tenancy (s. 52 Housing Act 1980) on the tenant in May 1990, and the notice referred to the landlord’s intention to grant the tenant a fixed term tenancy of one year from 1st June 1990 to 31st May 1991. The tenant actually moved into the premises in July 1990, and the written agreement given to the tenant a month after that referred to a fixed term of one year commencing on 1st September 1990. The landlord brought possession proceedings relying on a s. 21 notice. The judge

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Capital Prime Plus v Willis [1998]

A possession order was not made under ground 8, as the landlord could not prove that he had served a s. 8 notice on the tenant.

A landlord brought possession proceedings under section 8 Housing Act 1988, grounds 8. 10, and 11. The tenant denied ever receiving the section 8 notice. At the hearing, ground 8 would have been made out if the landlord had been able to prove service of the s. 8 notice, but a suspended possession order was granted, apparently by consent, without any evidence being called. The terms of the suspension were breached and a warrant of possession was issued.  The tenant applied to have the warrant suspended, but the district judge held that he had no power to suspend a possession order under ground 8, because when the possession order was made the court must have been satisfied that ground 8 was made out.

On appeal:

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Burrows v Brent London Borough Council [1996]

The House of Lords allowed an appeal against a decision that a tenant had been granted a new tenancy due to coming to an agreement with the landlord council following the granting of a possession order against a tenant. There was no new tenancy, so the possession order could be executed over two years after it was obtained. The former tenants were trespassers.

In August 1984, Brent LBC granted a joint tenancy of a flat to a couple. This was a secure tenancy. The couple moved into the property with their six children. In January 1986, the husband left and the wife remained in the flat with the children but had difficulty paying the rent. In January 1992, the council obtained a final order for possession for non-payment of rent and an order for payment of the arrears of over £2, 400. The order meant that the joint tenancy would end in February 1992, but the wife was unable to satisfy the order for the arrears. However, before the expiry of the 14 day period given to her to repay the arrears, the wife entered into an agreement with the council that she could continue to live in the flat provided she paid a sum equivalent to rent and also paid a regular sum to reduce the arrears. The council then noted her liability to make weekly payments as though they were rent under this agreement, and increased the amounts due in accordance with their general rental policy. The wife did not comply with the agreement.

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Marath and another v MacGillivray (1996)

Adequate notice of the landlords’ intention to commence possession proceedings was given, even though the s. 8 notice was not being compliant with statutory requirements.

The tenant of a flat in London had a shorthold tenancy of six months from January 1994. In March 1995 the landlords, who lived in Florida, obtained a possession order. The order was made on the grounds of more than three moths rent arrears and a breach of a clause of the tenancy agreement (failure to repair and/or to occupy in a careful and tenant-like manner). The tenant appealed, on three grounds:
-    whether a valid notice under s. 8 Housing Act 1988 had been served on the tenant, in the prescribed form, informing him of the landlords’ intention to take possession proceedings on the grounds of three months rent arrears;
-    whether the tenant had been served with a valid notice under s. 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, providing him with the landlords’ address in England or Wales for the service of notices, and
-    whether the landlords were estopped from relying on  the rent arrears as a ground for the possession order.

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Wandsworth LBC v Atwell (1995)

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Habinteg Housing Association v James [1994]

The landlord of property sued for possession on the grounds of rent arrears, but the tenant counterclaimed for breach of repairing covenants because the flat was infested with cockroaches. The court held [...]

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Mountain v Hastings [1993]

A s. 8 notice was defective as the ground on which the landlord was seeking possession did not fully set out the substance of the ground, and this meant that the notice did not meet the purpose of the legislation.

The tenant held a monthly periodic assured tenancy of a flat. The landlord served notice purporting to be a s. 8 notice seeking possession, stating that he intended to seek possession on six grounds of the grounds provided by the Housing Act 1988. On a separate document, the landlord stated ‘the landlord intends to seek possession … Ground 8. At least three months rent is unpair’. In proceedings for possession, the landlord claimed possession of the flat, plus arrears of rent and mesne profits (money that a landlord can claim from a tenant who continues to occupy property after his tenancy ends, the amount being equivalent to the current market rent of the property). At the hearing, the tenant’s counsel accepted that there was a case made out under ground 8 because the tenant had not paid the rent, but it was contended that the state of the premises entitled her to a reduction of the rent. It was said that this should be set off against the rent arrears.  The county court judge

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