Assured tenants
You are an assured tenant if you moved into your property between 15 January 1989 and 28 February 1997 and you do not:
- share facilities like the kitchen and bathroom with your landlord
- receive services such as cleaning or meals from your landlord
- live in rent-free accommodation
- live in the property as a condition of your job
- rent your accommodation from a educational or government institution
- occupy the property as a holiday let
You may be an assured shorthold tenant if your landlord gave you a notice at the start of your tenancy stating that you were an assured shorthold tenant.
Your rights
As an assured tenant you have considerable security of
tenure. This means:
- you cannot normally be evicted unless you breach one of the terms of your tenancy agreement
- your rent cannot be increased unless you agree to it. If you disagree with it your landlord must serve you with at least one month's notice of the increase. This notice must be in a form prescribed by law and should state the new rent and the date it will start. If you feel the increase is too high you can appeal to a rent assessment committee
- you have the right to succession - this means that a partner of the opposite sex can take over your tenancy after your death
Eviction
Your landlord cannot obtain a possession order to evict you
unless grounds for possession can be proven. To evict you the
landlord must serve you with a notice seeking possession (also
called notice to quit/section 8 notice). The length of the notice
is usually two weeks or two months depending on the grounds for
possession. This notice must be in a form prescribed by law and
must set out the grounds for eviction.
Once the notice has expired your landlord must apply to the courts to evict you. You will be notified of a court date and there will be a form included with the court papers to submit your defence.
If the court awards possession to your landlord, a date will be set when you should leave the property. If you do not leave on this date the landlord will have to ask the court bailiffs to evict you. You may be ordered to pay your landlord's court costs if he is awarded possession.
Not all grounds for possession are mandatory grounds. A mandatory ground is when the court has no choice but to give possession back to the landlord.The main mandatory ground for possession is rent arrears of two months or more. Other grounds include if the landlord wishes to substantially redevelop the property or if the landlord gave you notice of a ground before you moved into the property.
Please seek advice as soon as you receive a notice seeking possession.