Failure to do so can result in a claim being made by the tenant for damages for up to three times the deposit in addition to return of the deposit.  Information as to where the deposit has been held and reference numbers relating to that deposit, along with other required information, must be provided to the tenant.

A Section 8 Notice needs to be served.  There are both mandatory and discretionary grounds within that Section 8 Notice and the time periods as to how long the notice must be differs depending which ground possession is sought upon.  The usual ground is rent arrears.

A Section 21 Notice, which is a two month notice, can be served during the fixed term tenancy but cannot expire before the end of that fixed term.  After the fixed term Section 21 Notice can be served at any time however there are rules about the date on which it must end.

The landlord should always seek legal advice in serving notices if they are unsure and we can draft and serve notices for a fixed fee.

However normally a possession hearing is required, and this is always the case when possession is being sought upon a Section 8 Notice or rent arrears are being claimed.  There has to be a minimum of four weeks from the date of service of the Court papers on the tenant to the date of the possession hearing.  The Court will normally grant a 14 day Possession Order however it does have the power, where there would be exceptional hardship to the tenant, to grant up to 42 days.

The amount of time it will take for the date and time of the Bailiff appointment to be set will depend upon how busy the Court Bailiff is but typically this is anywhere between 7-21 days.

The landlord must however be cautious when granting an assured shorthold tenancy in excess of six months as they will only be able to bring that tenancy to an end if there has been a breach of that tenancy during the fixed term period.