UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi all,

We are planning on completing and submitting an NB5 (accelerated procedure) this week and would appreciate some advice on some areas we're not so clear on before we submit it. A section 21 was served on our tenant which had a move out date set for 1 month ago - I am aware that we have 3 months to submit the NB5 from the stated leave date. We are selling the property - hence the need to regain possession. The AST was signed in 2012 and a new tenancy hasn't been entered into since this date. The AST is drawn up between ourselves and the tenant. The rent is paid via the local council direct to us in the form of housing benefit. We are aware of the current stay on evictions due to COVID but we want to get the application into the system.

Some questions that the form has thrown up for us:

1) "Are you (the Claimant) asking for an order that the Defendant pay the costs of this claim?"
Is it reasonable to tick YES to this, what are your experiences here? We would rather not pay the costs - but if it is likely to lead to more complications and delay then we would perhaps then look to plan this in. I am aware that there is the cost of submitting the NB5 to the court, what are the likely additional costs (aside from our time)?

2) Is 'proof of service' still required regarding the section 21 notice?

3) "Was a deposit paid in connection with the current tenancy or any prior tenancy of the property to which the Defendant was a party?" and "Has the deposit been returned to the Defendant (or the person –
if not the Defendant – who paid the deposit)?"
Alongside the tenancy agreement there is a separate 'Deposit Guarantee Agreement' between us as the landlord and the local borough council that indemnifies us in respect of rent, damage or loss and notes a deposit amount of 1 months rent. So in this sense we have not put a deposit away in a scheme to be returned - but there is certainly mention of a deposit via this agreement with the council. With this in mind would we answer YES or NO to these 2 deposit questions on the form - and if it is YES then would we attach the Deposit Guarantee Agreement instead of the "Tenancy Deposit Scheme Certificate" as detailed on the form and would we have needed to provide the "prescribed information" that is referenced in the subsequent 2 questions after that?

4) Questions 16 through 18 ask for copies of and proof of service for:
EPC
Gas certs
'How to Rent: the checklist for renting in England'

An EPC was provided to the council as the broker of the AST back in 2012 but we no longer have this.
Gas cert would have been provided as above - but again I am not sure we still have a copy. We do however have copied of the last 2 gas certs
'How to rent checklist' - we don't recall being asked by the council to provide this.

What I wanted to clarify here is that I am aware that there seems to be reference to the above NOT applying to AST's that predate 2015 (ours was 2012). Can anyone clarify what our obligations are here in the context of the NB5? We are not of course looking to shirk our responsibilities as good landlords - our relationship with the tenant has been great. Rather I don't want the application held up or refused on a technicality especially if it does not apply to our situation in a legal sense. My outlying concern is that the tenant will not want to move and may rely on these stipulations to render the order invalid. If a pre-2015 rule on AST's trumps this then that would be useful to know before we submit this.

5) and finally....... I cannot seem to find any accompanying guidance for the NB5. Are there any details I need to know for submitting? For example I had read previously that 3 copies of the NB5 and supporting documents need to be sent to the courts so that they can send copies to the tenant, retain a copy themselves etc. Is this the case? Seems a bit excessive. Do I just submit 1 copy?

Thanks in advance for all your help on this - and happy new year!