Is it now easier for landlords to obtain possession from assured shorthold tenants? Nathaniel Duckworth & Daniel Robinson report
Assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) were intended to provide landlords with a letting mechanism under which they could recover possession quickly and simply by giving notice, rather than having to establish any of the fault-based grounds for possession, such as the existence of rent arrears. They were a considerable inroad into security of tenure for residential tenants. Since 28 February 1997, the default position has been that any residential tenancy is an AST unless (among other exceptions) the parties expressly agree it is to be an assured tenancy, under which the landlord cannot recover possession simply by giving notice.
Landlords are, however, frequently frustrated by the process of recovering possession from well-advised—or, as many landlords would describe them, obstinate and opportunistic—AST tenants. Even with the accelerated possession procedure—which allows landlords to obtain a possession order without a hearing—it can take weeks to obtain a possession order and a further month or more to obtain a court bailiff’s appointment. In addition, tenants will often raise
