Sometimes there is no choice but to go down this route. The mandatory order is in ground 8 and we include grounds 10 and 11 in our notices. 

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The section 8 form is called a form 3 and as a prescribed form, the wording must match the wording prescribed by the government.

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Here I just want you to know that unless the arrears far out weigh any potential counterclaim about an unprotected deposit, you would be insane to go down the section 8 route if it can be defended by the tenant in this way.

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If the landlord hasn’t fully complied with the deposit scheme legislation, there may be a three times or greater deposit claim. See tenants deposits here. 

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​We have assisted with there being a potential three times deposit defence claim but we would not do so unless either the arrears were substantial or we first obtained a two months CCJ for rent arrears.Its a bit complicated here to explain, but in brief, a section 8 hearing is essentially a small claim with a possession order attached to it. We are asking for a possession order based on the existing CCJ. These have gone really well even with a counterclaim in some instances, but not in all because county courts are inconsistent. Because of the dangers of this process we will work with you to arrive at a decision based on risk.

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We can help you to enforce a section 8 notice whether we did the notice or you or the agent served it. There will be a hearing and many landlords are more than capable of handling these on their own. Except we spend some time explaining the rules and give you the confidence before hand and we have been very successful like this. Its only a five minute hearing and if there are no issues then in the vast majority of cases the tenant doesn't turn up. If they do they have the benefit of a free duty solicitor but they still need a defence. The objective of the duty solicitor is to get all hearing adjourned. I know, what do you want to do when you grow up, I want to mess up as many sections 8 possession hearings as I can daddy. Sound great son.

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These things we will discuss a few weeks before the hearing and you may opt to have a solicitor attend with you. You don't pay for this up front like some other leading practises, you can choose this later. After all the tenant might leave and you might have paid for a solicitor which you actually didn't need. If you would like to discuss this or any other issue please make contact here.

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