UK Landlord Forum / Life

I issued my tenant a section 8 notice in person on 4th November because of regular late payments and rent arrears. Whilst she did say she would make weekly payments to bring up to date to avoid having to move out (and I genuinely believed her as she has been in the property for 5 years), this has not happened so I have advised a leaving date of 23rd Jan.
I have tried calling at the house, ringing, and texting but she has not responded to my attempts to contact her. I really don't know what to do next, because she won't meet or speak to me I really don't know if she intends to leave on this date or not! All advise will really be appreciated - thank you

It's unlikely, right? But possible.

What do you do? Well, you find out whether the property is still occupied after the date you've set in the Section 8 and if they've not left then you need to progress down the Section 8 route... what you're hoping is that they'll voluntarily surrender the tenancy. If not, then it's Court and the outcome of that is not assured. What Grounds have you actually used? Ground 8? That can easily be obviated by the Tenant, as I'm sure you're aware.

I would not be approaching your Tenant too much, you could be accused of harassment.

I would have served a Section 21 at the same time, if that's possible... you assume so bearing in mind the length of the tenancy.

thank you
I used grounds 8, 10 and 11. I didn't realise I could serve both 8 & 21 together, it is worthwhile me now issuing a Section 21? or do I play the waiting game until 23rd Jan...  I have previously issued a section 8 to her about 3 years ago and fortunately she paid the arrears that time.  I (naively) assumed she would do the same this time

OK, well, I'm sure you already know that only Ground 8 is mandatory and can be easily thrown-out by payment of just a small enough amount to drop the amount outstanding to below the threshold. The other Grounds are discretionary.

Yes, you can serve a Section 21 as well - and you might decide to pursue that route instead, as - at least if you've done everything correctly - it will be a guaranteed means of evicting your Tenant.

At the moment, all you've actually done is present your Tenant with a notice, right? You can give as many of those as you want - but elect to progress the route that's best for you in due course if you get no joy from the notices alone. That means going to the Court and applying for possession and, possibly, engaging Bailiffs. Costly and drawn-out.