Landlord and tenant disputes
Being a landlord can like sound like an easy way to earn an income. Being a tenant can be a hassle-free way to have a home. But when things go wrong landlords and tenants can find themselves in a stressful legal minefield.
Our Property and Litigation teams are led by David Fraser, who has over 30 years of experience of acting for both landlord and tenants. We can help you understand your legal position, go through your options and find a way out of the problems that have arisen.
To effectively tackle disputes between landlords and tenants, you need a thorough understanding of the legal position and of the different ways you can quickly reach a fair resolution. You also need pragmatic, cool-headed advice about how effective a particular course of action is likely to be and whether the benefits outweigh the costs.
We seek to give advice that is legally sound and based on years of practical experience. Our aim is that our advice will be easy to understand and implement, and focused on how to achieve the right outcome as swiftly as possible.
Residential property
How can you help me regain possession of my property?
One of the most common problems we deal with is helping landlords regain possession of a property where tenants have failed to comply with the terms of their tenancy agreement or have fallen into substantial rent arrears.
In these cases, it is important that you seek legal advice as soon as problems arise. There are strict procedures that need to be followed, and many pitfalls. If you do not follow the correct procedures it could result in an order for possession being refused or you being prosecuted for unlawful eviction.
We can help you with:
- drafting Notices under section 21 and section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, relating to assured shorthold tenancies;
- applying for a possession order if the tenant fails to leave by the date specified in the notice.
- applying for the tenants to be forcibly removed by a County Court bailiff or a High Court enforcement officer.
Helping tenants deal with aggressive landlords – dealing with harassment and unlawful eviction
We can assist tenants who, unfortunately, have to deal with unpleasant landlords who are acting unlawfully, or threatening to do so, and heaping pressure on their tenants. We can advise and assist where an unlawful eviction has occurred, or an injunction may be required and advise tenants as to the status of their occupancy, assessing whether they can successfully fight off efforts on the part of their landlord to make them leave.
What other issues can you help landlords and tenants with?
As well as regaining possession, there are a wide range of issues that can arise between landlords and tenants that we can advise you on. These include:
- Pre-contractual advice to landlords and tenants on the terms of tenancy agreements.
- Recovering rent arrears from current or former tenants.
- Advice on deposits and representation in litigation regarding deposits.
- Advice on issues with tenant’s antisocial behaviour or damage to properties.
Commercial property
We also deal with problems when they arise in the context of commercial property. This includes advising on “sending in the bailiffs”, when that is appropriate, serving notice under section 146 of the Law of Property Act 1925, advising regarding recovery of possession and service of notices under section 25 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.
Our assistance is often requested in the field of landlord and tenant but we also deal with boundaries, rights of way, breach of covenant, neighbour disputes and a range of other commercial property issues that arise.
Good hardheaded advice as to the best way of recovering one’s debts/resolving disputes is needed, early on, before situations spiral out of control and we aim to provide that clear thinking and analysis to assist clients form a sensible way forward.
If need arises, we are experienced in dealing with court proceedings and general property litigation issues.
