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Frequently Asked Questions

The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 was brought in on 1st December 2022, with the new legislation seeing some changes to the responsibilities of Landlords and Contract-Holders (formerly Tenants).

We’re here to help you if you are looking at evicting your Contract-Holder and can provide you with expert legal advice.

Please note, this relates to properties in Wales only. If you need advice on a property in England, our Team can provide you with assistance.

To start guiding you through the process, here are some of our most frequently asked questions:

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I just throw my contract-holder out?

The short answer is no.

If you’re looking to evict someone, it’s very important that you use the correct legal process that is in place. In essence, giving Notice to your Contract-Holder.

This not only protects you but it ensures that your Contract-Holder is also given the opportunity to discuss or defend themselves.

How can I evict my contract holder?

Unless your Contract-Holder is willing to leave and you can bring the tenancy to an end that way, you will need to follow the correct legal process. This will always start by serving a notice on the Contract-Holder.

When the notice expires, either your Contract-holder leaves your property or they don’t. If they do not, then you’ll need to issue Court proceedings

What happens if I need to go to court?

If your case has to proceed to Court, then the notice needs to expire and then proceedings are issued.

The Court will then schedule a Hearing. This gives us the chance to put forward your case to the judge and, for the Contract-Holder to defend themselves.

If you are successful at the Hearing, the Court will then grant an Order for Possession. This will require that the Contract-Holder leaves the property by a certain date.

What if my Contract-Holder doesn’t leave after the Order for Possession is granted?

If this situation arises, we wait for the date by which the Contract-Holder must leave the property (as per the Order for Possession) to pass and then apply to Court for a Warrant for Possession. The Court would then set a date for bailiffs to attend the property.

If your case did get to this stage, we would be on hand to advise you fully of what would need to be done.

How long does this process take?

We will always work as fast as the system will allow us. The process can get quite lengthy sometimes, but it does depend on how complicated your matter is.

Some Contract-Holders will move out just days after we have served the notice, whereas others for various reasons do not.

Sometimes the Court ask for a Hearing to be held, other times they do not. The Hearing will usually take place between 4 to 8 weeks after we issue proceedings.

What documents do you need from me?

The new legislation, along with Rent Smart Wales, places certain requirements on you as a Landlord that you must fulfil – click here to view our handy checklist which shows everything we would want to see from you during the initial stages of the process.

I have not been able to comply with all of the requirements for Rent Smart Wales, what can I do?

There’s no need to worry if you don’t!

Whilst it is usually better if you do have all the documents, we can provide you with bespoke advice on how best to approach your situation. What we would ask for is any evidence of you trying to obtain a document.

For example, if you Contract-Holder is not letting your electrician attend the Property to undertake the electrical inspection, we’d like to see all your attempts of contacting the Contract-Holder to arrange this.

My contract-holder has not paid their rent for months, what can I do?

You can serve a notice for possession on the grounds that the Contract-Holder has incurred serious rent arrears. The Law requires 2 months of arrears accruing before you can take any action.

A serious rent arrears matter will usually end in a Hearing being held. When we ask for the Order for Possession, we also ask for the Judge to make a ruling for rent arrears to be paid by the Contract-Holder before they leave the property.

Sometimes, Contract-Holders aren’t able to pay. We have specialist debt recovery lawyers who would be able to assist in recovering the rent owed to you.

My contract-holder’s behaviour has been anti-social, what can I do?

We’d need to have a discussion about what sort of behaviour this is.

If it is anti-social behaviour, then we’d be able to issue a notice to your Contract-Holder and then issue proceedings in Court the same day to help you get your property back quickly.

I need legal advice to remove my contract-holder, can you help?

Of course. Harding Evans have a team of solicitors who are experienced in this area, please get in touch for more information.

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