Weekly Rent and Service of Section 8

Weekly Rent and Service of Section 8

9:54 AM, 3rd July 2015, About 10 years ago 3

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I have a tenant on an AST (6 months) and weekly rent – specified in the AST. He is now four weeks behind with the rent and despite several promises each week that it will be paid I doubt now whether he ever will. weekly

I understand that on a weekly rent schedule I only need him to be three weeks in arrears then I can serve the Section 8, I am sure I’ve read this somewhere. However, I cannot find a reference to this now to confirm before I serve.

Does anyone on Property118 know?

Mike


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Paul Franklin

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11:36 AM, 3rd July 2015, About 10 years ago

Section 8, ground 8, states 8 weeks arrears both at time of service and at the court date if it gets to that stage. The full list of grounds can be found in Schedule 2 Housing Act 1988 I believe. If you're serving a ground 8 you have to state which ground you're using so you'll need to pick one or more. You can serve Section 8 under other grounds for persistent late payments for example, but these are discretionary grounds not mandatory grounds like ground 8. When is the 6 month fixed term up? if it's anywhere close to endingit may be worth serving Section 21 instead, if not as well as a S.8 notice.
Have you issued the tenant with a rent book which is a legal requirement where rent is charged weekly? You would need to provide evidence of rent arrears if it get to the court stage if you are looking to seek possession under S.8 for rent arrears. Something to think about. I would suggest it's probably best to stick to s21 if you're able to - assuming any deposit you have taken has been placed with a deposit scheme as is required?

Altair

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9:35 AM, 4th July 2015, About 10 years ago

Thanks Paul. All understood. However, I am sure I've read somewhere that on a weekly rent you can serve after three weeks arrears. There is four months to go on the AST so S21 is not an option yet. Besides the arrears he is persistently late and its a pain having to chase payment every week. and these late payments are pushing the arrears up.

Paul Franklin

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10:47 AM, 7th July 2015, About 10 years ago

I don't know what you've read but there are only so many grounds under Section 8 so take a look and decide which ones may apply. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50/schedule/2
A section 8 notice must be on a specifc form and you must stae exactly which gounds you are seeking possession under. Some ground are discretionary, so you may not get a possession order based on them, such as ground 10 'some rent lawfully due' as in your case. Most landlords tend to only use section 8 when mandatory grounds apply (whereby if you can prove they are met the court must grant a possession order). Most often ground 8 is used which is 8 or more weeks in rent arrears both at time of the notice and at the time of the court hearing. If only discretionary grounds may apply, you are less likley to tobtain a possession order and therefore it's more likley to cost you time and money without getting what you need.

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