You must follow strict procedures if you want your tenant to leave your property, depending on the type of tenancy agreement your tenants have and the terms of it.

You may be guilty of illegally evicting or harassing your tenants if you don't follow the correct procedures.

In England and Wales, if you want to get your property back because your tenants owe you rent money, you can make a possession claim online.

Rules for Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs)

A periodic AST

Periodic tenancies run on a week-by-week or month-by-month basis, with no fixed end date. If your tenants have one of these:

1. You must usually give them 'notice to quit'.

2. If your tenants don't leave by the date on the notice to quit, you must send them a 'notice of intention to seek possession' - this tells them you'll apply to the court for a possession order if they don't leave.

3. You must then apply to the court for a possession order, which gives you the right to evict your tenants and take possession of the property.

4. If the court gives you a possession order and your tenants still don't leave, you must apply for a warrant for eviction - this means bailiffs can remove your tenants from the property.

A fixed-term AST

Fixed-term tenancies run for a set amount of time. You must give your tenants notice in a certain way if your tenants have a fixed-term tenancy.

If your tenants refuse to leave after being given notice, you must follow the same steps as for a periodic tenancy, from step 2.

Rules for excluded tenancies or licenses

You don't have to go to court to evict your tenants if they have an excluded tenancy or licence (eg they live with you).

You only need to give them 'reasonable notice' to quit. Reasonable notice usually means the length of the rental payment period - so if your tenants pay rent weekly, you can give them 1 week's notice. The notice doesn't have to be in writing.

You can then change the locks on their rooms, even if they still have belongings there. However, you must give your tenants' belongings back to them.

Your council can take action against you if you evict your tenants illegally.

Rules for assured and regulated tenancies

If your tenants started their tenancy before 27 February 1997, they might have an assured or a regulated tenancy. You will then have to follow different rules to evict them and they'll have increased protection from eviction.

Shelter has more information about assured tenancies and regulated tenancies.

You can also get information from Shelter Cymru about assured tenancies and regulated tenancies in Wales.

You can sometimes use 'accelerated possession' to evict tenants in England and Wales. This is quicker than a normal eviction and doesn't usually need a court hearing.

You can only do this if:

• your tenants have an assured shorthold tenancy or a statutory periodic tenancy
• they have a written tenancy agreement
• you've given them the required written notice (a minimum of 2 months) in the right form
• you haven't asked them to leave before the end of a fixed-term tenancy

There is no accelerated possession process in Northern Ireland.

How it works

If you apply to the court for accelerated possession, the court will send your tenants a copy of the application.

If your tenants want to challenge the application, they must do this within 14 days of receiving it.

A judge will decide whether to:

• issue a possession order, giving you the right to evict your tenants and take possession of the property (this is normally the case)
• have a court hearing (this usually only happens if the paperwork isn't in order or your tenants raise an important issue)

Even if there's a hearing, the court can still decide to issue a possession order.

If the judge issues a possession order

Your tenants will normally have 14 or 28 days to leave the property if the judge makes a possession order. If this will cause them exceptional hardship, the judge may give them up to 42 days to leave.

You can use bailiffs to evict them if they don't leave at this point.

If the judge decides that a hearing is required, at the hearing they could:

• dismiss the court case - no order will be made and the hearing is finished
• adjourn the hearing - the hearing will be delayed until later, as the judge feels a decision can't be made on the day
• make an 'order' - the judge will make a legal decision on what will happen

The judge will dismiss the case if there's no reason your tenants should be evicted. This might happen if:

• you haven't followed the correct procedure
• you or your representative don't attend the hearing
• your tenant has paid any rent that was in arrears

Your tenants can stay in your property if the judge dismisses the case. You must restart the court process from the beginning if you want to evict them.

There are different kinds of orders a judge can make:

Order for possession (or 'outright possession order')

This means your tenants must leave the property before the date given in the order.

The date will be either 14 or 28 days after the court hearing. If your tenants are in an exceptionally difficult situation, the judge may agree to delay this for up to 6 weeks.

If your tenants don't leave your property by the date given, you can ask the court to evict them by asking for a 'warrant for possession'. If the court gives a warrant, your tenants will be sent an eviction notice that gives a date when they must leave your property.

Suspended order for possession

This means if your tenants make the payments, or obey the conditions, set out in the order, they can stay in your property. If they don't make the payments, you can ask the court to evict them.

Money order

This means your tenants have to pay you the amount set out in the order. If they don't make the payments, action could be taken by the courts to recover the money, including:

• deducting money from your tenants' wages or bank account
• sending bailiffs to take away things they own

If your tenants get into rent arrears after a money order has been made, you can go to court again and ask for a possession order.

Possession orders with a money judgment

A judge can add a money judgment to any of the possession orders. This means your tenants owe a specific amount of money, usually made up of:

• their rent arrears
• court fees
• your legal costs

The money judgment won't apply if your tenants pay their arrears and the amount set out in a suspended possession order.

However, the money judgment will apply if they don't pay the amount set out in the suspended possession order that's linked to the judgment. If they don't pay, you can ask the court to carry out the instructions in the order and the judgment.

If your tenants don't leave your property by the date given in an outright possession order, you can ask the court for a 'warrant for possession'.

If the court gives a warrant, your tenants will be sent an eviction notice that gives a date when they must leave your property.

If they don't go, bailiffs can evict them. The costs of doing this will be added to the money they owe.

Delaying eviction

Your tenants can ask a judge to suspend the warrant for possession at a new hearing. This means the judge will delay the eviction or let your tenants stay in your property if they can make payments again.

The judge won't automatically agree to suspend the possession warrant.

Changing the payments

If your tenants' circumstances change, they can ask a judge at a new hearing to change what they pay.

Appealing against the decision

You can only appeal if you can show the judge made mistakes in the original possession hearing. You'll need to ask the judge for permission to appeal at the end of the original hearing.

If you get permission to appeal, you'll have to apply for an appeal hearing very soon afterwards. You'll have to pay a court fee, unless you qualify for help.

You'll need to get legal advice.

It's a crime to harass or try to force your tenants out of a property without using proper procedures. If this happens, they may have a right to claim damages through the court.

What is harassment?

Harassment can be anything you do or don't do that makes your tenants feel unsafe in the property or forces them to leave.

Harassment can include:

• stopping services, like electricity
• withholding keys - eg there are 2 tenants in a property but you will only give 1 key
• refusing to carry out repairs
• anti-social behaviour by someone on your behalf - eg your friend moves in next door to your tenants and causes problems
• threats and physical violence

Illegal eviction

You may be guilty of illegal eviction if you:

• don't give your tenants the right amount of notice to leave the property
• change the locks
• evict your tenants without a court order