Problem tenants are every landlord’s worst nightmare. Whilst tenants who fail to pay their rent on time can cause headaches, tenants who blight the lives of their neighbours with antisocial behaviour and all-night parties can be just as problematic. And let’s not forget the delightful tenants who trash the property, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage in the process, deal drugs on the premises, and indulge in acts of random violence.
During my years as a landlord, the majority of my tenants have been hassle-free, but for those landlords who have not been as lucky the process for evicting anti-social tenants has always been very lengthy and expensive. At present, the onus is currently on the landlord to provide evidence to back up their claims of anti-social behaviour, but a new proposal by the Government Housing minister, Grant Shaps, looks likely to change things for the better.
Grant Shaps wants to introduce a much faster procedure for evicting problem tenants accused of anti-social behaviour (although the proposal will not affect a landlord’s right to take possession of his property once the tenancy ends under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988), and if the tenant has any previous convictions for violence, drug dealing, and criminal damage, these could also be taken into account.
Hopefully this new proposal to streamline procedures for evicting “tenants from hell” will go a long way towards making landlord’s lives much easier as we will no longer be forced to struggle with a long and drawn out legal process to kick out nightmare tenants.
