Eviction from your home
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If you are homeless or at risk of being homeless please telephone 01283 508120 between 9am and 5pm, or in an emergency outside office hours please ring 01283 508126.
Alternatively you can email the Council at housingoptions@eaststaffsbc.gov.uk and we will aim to respond the same working day.
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Your landlord must follow the proper legal procedure to require you to leave your home, which is intended to allow due time for you to find alternative accommodation.
Landlords are entitled to evict tenants, but must do so legally - check whether the landlord has followed the correct repossession process for landlords
When a landlord wants you to leave, the technical term is that they require "possession" of the property.
The procedure starts with giving you notice. The procedure varies depending on how you occupy your home.
The main procedures are as follows:
Illegal Eviction or Harrassment
Illegal eviction (or harassment) may have occurred if your landlord:
In most cases, unless you share the property with the landlord, the law makes it a criminal offence for them to evict you without obtaining a court order.
If you have received notice
Please contact the Housing Options Team for further advice. If the notice is valid and the landlord wants to repossess, finding somewhere else to live is often difficult. It is sometimes therefore worth trying to persuade the landlord not to pursue possession. Eviction and re-letting can be expensive for the landlord so you may be able to persuade them not to seek repossession.
Rent Arrears
If the landlord still wants you to leave
If you have received Section 21 notice and, having done what you can, the landlord says that they do require possession, you need to find somewhere else to live.
You should try and find somewhere that enables you to leave by the date on which the landlord is seeking possession as stated in the notice.
If you do not think the landlord has the right to possession or you disagree with anything the notice says, discuss this with the landlord and speak to Housing Options. It may be possible to persuade the court not to grant possession. Attend the court hearing, arrive early and ask for the Court Desk Service; this is a free service which can then represent you in court and argue that you should not lose your home.
If you share the property with a landlord who was living in the same property when they let it to you then they do not have to obtain a Court Order in order to gain possession. Hence they are usually allowed to change the locks in order to exclude you once the reasonable notice they have given you has expired. If you cannot change their mind you need to find somewhere else to live by the end of the notice period.
See finding somewhere to live for advice about different housing options. If you need help to understand the options contact Housing Options.
If you find somewhere else to live which you need to start renting before the date in the notice, ask your landlord if you can end the tenancy early. If they say no and you receive Housing Benefit, ask at the Customer Service Centres or call 01283 508422 about claiming Housing Benefit on both properties for up to 4 weeks.
Receiving a Possession Order ot a Warrant for Possession
You need to find somewhere else to live so that you can leave by the date stated. If you need advice about doing this, speak to Housing Options as soon as possible.