A new mandatory ground enabling a landlord to recover possession of their property from a tenant came into force in October last year. “The new legislation allows a landlord to obtain possession if the tenant, a member of the tenant’s household or someone visiting the property has been convicted of anti-social behaviour,” says Victoria Riddleston, Solicitor in the Dispute Resolution team.
The new ground sets out five conditions and the court must grant possession if any one of the five are met:
- Conditions 1, 2 and 3 will be met if the tenant of the property, a member of the tenant’s household or a visitor to the property has been:
a) Convicted of a serious offence committed on or after 20th October 2014
b) Found to have breached an injunction by the court
c) Convicted for breach of a Criminal Behaviour Order
In addition, the offence must have been:
a) Committed in the property or in the locality of the property
b) Affected someone with a right to live in the locality of the property
c) Affected the landlord or his managing agents
- Condition 4 will be deemed to be met if the tenant’s property has been closed under a Closure Order as a result of anti-social behaviour in or near the property and the closure was for a continuous period of more than 48 hours.
- Condition 5 will be met if the tenant, a member of the tenant’s household or a visitor to the property has been convicted of breaching a notice or order to abate noise in relation to the tenant’s property (on or after 20th October 2014).
A number of time limits apply if a landlord wishes to rely on this new ground.
Article sign off amend staff and team as necessary – We have offices in the Christchurch, New Milton and the New Forest. Our Dispute Resolution team also cover Bournemouth and Poole. For a free initial chat, please call 01202 499255 and Victoria or a member of the team will be happy to discuss any questions that you may have.
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