Pre-Action plan required before serving S21 or S8

[Grampa]

A pre-action plan should now be served on a tenant prior to serving a S21 and/or S8 otherwise the application could/would fail after waiting 6 months (for s21) before even applying for the court hearing

There are 5 steps which must be followed before serving section 21 or section 8:

Step 1: “The landlord should write to the tenants outlining the reasons possession is being sought.” (this is the easy one)

If the reason is rent arrears steps 2-5 must be followed which are: 

2. Landlords must declare if they know of any matters that should be taken into consideration, including if tenants, their dependants, or other occupiers have been affected by coronavirus and, if so, how this has impacted on their ability to pay rent.

3.Both parties should consider whether it is possible to resolve issues between them through discussion and negotiation, rather than formal legal proceedings (alternative dispute resolution).

4.The landlord should consider any representations received, and if proceeding with a claim, include any information that has been provided relating to the impact of coronavirus on the tenant’s ability to pay rent.

5.Landlords must keep copies of all documentation and a record of all correspondence or contact with the tenant, throughout the pre-action process, and provide the information to the court should proceedings be necessary.

https://www.nrla.org.uk/resources/ending-your-tenancy/pre-action-plan-avoiding-possession-claims

Isnt it fun being a landlord. I wonder how many eviction applications will be struck out due to the above not being followed.

This is where it becomes more and more important to to use a good letting agent. 

[kanrent]

Bit of an off topic, but if the tenant owes money for rent arrears it might be worth mentioning to them that they will be pursued at a later date for the arrears in court and if they loose and still don't pay they will be credit black listed in the future. 

[Melboy]

Yes all getting a bit "socialists" now isn't it.  If there are circumstances whereby any tenant cannot pay their rent as per contract then they should contact the landlord and discuss the matter.  If they have a reasonable savings pot then the rent should be paid from this source of money available. Rental payment relief can be paid to any tenant who is in financial difficulties, okay, it may not be the total amount they were paying before but something is better than nothing in these difficult times.

                Your entitlement to this rent payment relief does not happen if you have savings or income over a certain level which I think is around £8,000.

Kanrent makes a valid point though that any non paying tenant would be liable to legal recovery action and a CCJ .....eventually.