Are you facing eviction?

Last Updated: 23.12.2010

Landlords must follow certain eviction procedures set out by law to get their property back from a tenant. Illegally evicting or harassing a tenant is a crime.

Find out how a landlord can regain possession of their property and a tenant's rights against illegal eviction and harassment.

Evicting a tenant

If you are a landlord and serve notice on your tenant to leave the property and they do not leave when the notice period expires, you must send your tenant a 'notice of intention to seek possession'. This lets the tenant know that you plan to apply to the court for a possession order to evict them if they do not leave.

You must give the notice of intention to your tenant before you can apply for a possession order.

If you apply to the court for a possession order, the court will decide whether or not to evict your tenant. If it grants the order, it will either require the tenant to leave on a specific date or will 'suspend' the order. If the possession order is suspended by the court, this means that the tenant can stay in the property as long as they continue to meet certain conditions set out by the court.

If your tenant still refuses to leave when you have a possession order, you must apply for a warrant for eviction from the county court. The court will arrange for bailiffs to remove the tenant from the property.

Eviction of short assured tenants

If you rent from a private landlord and have a short assured tenancy, you can only be evicted if your landlord follows the correct procedures.

Before your landlord can evict a short assured tenant, there are steps they must follow. These steps are different if they want to evict you:

during your tenancy, before it's due to end
at the end of your tenancy.

If your landlord is trying to evict you, you should have received a notice of proceedings. If you have received a summons (a letter notifying you of a court date), this will also include the ground(s) being used.

Your landlord can state just one ground on the notice of proceedings or they can use a combination of grounds, for example, grounds 8, 11 and 12 all relate to rent arrears. Your landlord must be able to explain why each ground stated applies to you. If your case goes to court, the sheriff will use the grounds to help make a decision about whether or not you should be evicted.

Grounds for eviction

The following is a list of grounds for eviction. Grounds 1-7 are called mandatory grounds.

Landlord wants property to be own home or the property was previously their own home (two months notice required)
Mortgage default (two months notice required)
Off season holiday let (two weeks notice required)
Vacation let of student accommodation (two weeks notice required)
Minister/lay missionary property(two months notice required)
Re-development (two months notice required)
Tenancy inherited under a will or intestacy (two months notice required)
Three months rent arrears (two weeks notice required)
Suitable alternative accommodation available to tenant (two months notice required)
Tenant served notice to quit but did not leave (two weeks notice required)
Persistent delay in paying rent (two weeks notice required)
Some rent unpaid (two weeks notice required)
Breach of tenancy condition (two weeks notice required)
Deterioration of the house or common parts (two weeks notice required)
Nuisance or annoyance (two weeks notice required)
Ex-employees of the landlord (two months notice required)

Eviction of assured tenants

If you rent from a private landlord and have an assured tenancy, you can only be evicted if your landlord follows the correct procedures.

You can only be evicted once your landlord has got an order from the sheriff court stating that you have to leave the property.

The eviction process

In most cases your landlord will need to follow the steps below in order to evict you. However, in a few cases, a landlord might be able to skip serving you a notice to quit.If you have any doubts you should get advice as soon as possible. The process is as follows:

You will be served with a notice to quit.
You will be served with a notice of proceedings.
You will be sent a summons telling you when your case will be heard in court.
Your case will come to court.
Sheriff officers will be sent round to remove you from your property.

Remember:

This process takes a long time, and it may be possible to stop or delay the process at any time. An adviser will be able to tell you if this is likely.
If your landlord doesn't follow the correct procedure for evicting you, the eviction will be illegal and you may be able to stay in your home or get compensation.

Notice to quit

A notice to quit is a written document notifying you that your landlord wants to end your tenancy. You do not have to leave your home if you have received a notice to quit. Your landlord will have to get an order from the court before you may have to leave.

What it is a notice of proceedings (AT6)?

In addition to a notice to quit, your landlord must also send you a notice of proceedings. This can be sent at the same time as the notice to quit, or at a later date. If the two notices are sent at the same time, the notice periods will run at the same time.

A notice of proceedings is a document telling you that your landlord wants to start legal proceedings to get their property back. It should be on a special form called an AT6.

What is a summons?

A summons is a letter from the sheriff court to tell you that your landlord has asked for a court order for you to be evicted. Before a court order can be granted, your case must be heard at the sheriff court.

The summons should include the date of the court hearing, which should be at least three weeks after you receive the summons. It usually takes at least seven weeks from the notice of proceedings being served to the case calling at court.

Section 11

If your landlord does serve you with an summons they also have to serve a notice on your council, this is called a section 11 notice, and it informs the council that your landlord intends to evict you from the property and you could end up being homeless.

When the council receives the notice they may get in touch to offer to help you. Depending on your situation, the council could offer to intervene and try and stop the evict or give you advice regarding your housing options if you do become homeless.

Eviction from council housing

Councils, housing associations and housing co-ops have to follow special legal procedures to evict tenants.

Whether you can be evicted and how depends on the type of tenancy agreement you have. Most council, housing association and housing co-op tenants have either Scottish secure tenancies (SSTs) or short Scottish secure tenancies (SSSTs).

Eviction process for council tenants

The eviction process breaks down into the following steps:

you and anyone living in your house who is over 16 will be sent a notice of proceedings
your landlord will start legal proceedings and you will be sent a summons telling you when your case will be heard at court
your case will come to court
the sheriff grants a decree for eviction
sheriff officers will be sent round to remove you from the property.

Remember, it may be possible to stop or delay the eviction process. An adviser will be able to tell you if this is likely.

Grounds for eviction

This section lists the grounds that can be used by councils, housing associations and housing co-ops. Depending on the ground used, you may be evicted but offered alternative accommodation.

Rent arrears or breaking your tenancy agreement
Using the house for immoral or illegal purposes or other criminal offences
Deterioration of the property or common parts
Deterioration of furniture
You are absent from the property
You made a false statement to obtain the property
Antisocial behaviour or conduct amounting to harassment
Nuisance, annoyance or conduct amounting to harassment
The house is overcrowded
Demolition of, or substantial work on, the property
The property is designed or adapted for people with special needs
The property is part of a group designed or located near facilities for people with special needs
The landlord has leased the property
The landlord is an islands council and the property is for an education worker
The landlord wants to transfer the property

Eviction from temporary accommodation

If the council wishes you to leave your temporary accommodation, you should be given at least four weeks' notice in writing.

You may be evicted from temporary accommodation for any of the following reasons:

because you've broken a condition of your tenancy agreement, for example, for not paying your rent or for behaving in an antisocial way.
because the council no longer has a duty to help you. If the council finds you are not homeless, or not in priority need, or that you are intentionally homeless, you will eventually have to leave your temporary accommodation. However, you should be able to stay until you've found somewhere else to live.
because the council has found you a permanent home.

Help and advice if you are facing eviction

If you need help or advice if you are facing eviction, or have any problems or issues with housing contact a North Ayrshire Citizens Advice Bureau and speak to one of our Advisers. You can find our contact details at the bottom of the page, our hours of business can be found on our opening hours page, alternatively, you can email us via our contact us page.

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