Council and housing association tenants: eviction for antisocial behaviour

Antisocial behaviour is things like:

• racist or homophobic abuse

• causing a nuisance to your neighbours

• threatening your landlord's staff or contractors

• using your home for illegal purposes, such as drug dealing

• a criminal conviction for a serious offence

• breaching a criminal behaviour order

Guests to your home can also put your tenancy at risk if they behave in an antisocial way when they visit.

Complaints about your behaviour

Your council or housing association can evict you for antisocial behaviour.

But they should try to work things out with you first.

Your council or housing association should:

• talk with you about complaints that have been made about you

• give you a chance to stop the behaviour

• offer you mediation or tenancy support if this would help

If your landlord wants to evict you for antisocial behaviour

Your council or housing association has to take the right steps to evict you.

These are the 3 steps:

1. Your landlord gives you an eviction notice

2. They go to court to get an order to evict you

3. The court tells the bailiffs to evict you from the property

1. Notice

You get a 'notice seeking possession' if you have an assured tenancy or a secure tenancy.

You probably have an assured or secure tenancy if you are a council or housing association tenant. The notice seeking possession is your eviction notice.

See what your notice should look like:

• assured tenancy notice

• secure tenancy notice

Read your notice carefully to understand the reasons you are being evicted and when the court action to evict you could start.

Your council has to take similar steps to ending a secure tenancy if they want to end your flexible tenancy early.

Use our notice periods checker to find out how much notice your landlord must give you.

Check the grounds on the notice

The reasons for your eviction are on your notice. You will see that they are called 'grounds for possession'.

These grounds have numbers. There are different grounds for secure and assured tenants.

Your landlord must prove their reason for evicting you at a court hearing to get an eviction order.

Check the date court action can start

The date is written on the notice.

How much notice you get depends on your tenancy type and the reason your landlord is evicting you.

These tables show the shortest notice periods you can get if you are being evicted for antisocial behaviour reasons.

How long your eviction notice lasts

Your landlord has a year to ask the court for an order to evict you.

For assured tenants this runs from when you get the notice. For secure tenants this runs from the date the notice says court action can start.

2. Court action starts

Your landlord can go to court to get an order to evict you when your notice period ends.

The court sends you letters and forms about the eviction. Keep them together so that you can find them easily.

Claim and defence forms

The court sends you claim and defence forms. Read the claim form carefully. Look for any mistakes or anything you think is wrong.

Get legal help to fill in and send off the defence form within 2 weeks.

The court hearing

The court usually sets a date and time for your hearing when they send out the claim and defence forms.

Check the letters they send you to find out:

• the time and date of your court hearing

• where it will be

• how to contact the court duty scheme to get legal help

The court hearing usually takes place at your local county court.

You should go in person unless everyone agrees to have a hearing by phone or video.

Follow GOV.UK court help on going to hearings.

When the court might let you stay in your home

Sometimes, the court can say that you should not be evicted from your home. This is called making a suspended possession order.

A suspended order means you can stay in your home as long as you keep to things the court tells you to do. For example, the court might tell you to stop abusing your neighbours or playing loud music.

The court can only make a suspended possession order if your landlord uses a 'discretionary ground'.

'Discretionary ground' means the court can decide you can stay even if the landlord proves your antisocial behaviour.

What the court looks at to decide

The court looks at what effect your behaviour has on your neighbours or people who work for the council or housing association.

You could keep your home if you show the behaviour has stopped or will stop right away.

For example, if the behaviour was caused by:

• mental health or drug and alcohol problems but you now get support

• someone who no longer lives with you or visits your home

When your eviction cannot be stopped

Sometimes, the court orders your eviction for antisocial behaviour.

If this happens, the court makes an 'an outright possession order'. This means you will be evicted. The order tells you when you have to leave your home.

The court has to make an outright possession order if your landlord proves a 'mandatory antisocial behaviour ground'.

You can see if your landlord is using a mandatory antisocial behaviour ground if your notice:

• has ground 7A on it and you have an assured tenancy

• says the court will be asked to make an order under section 84A and you have a secure tenancy

The court can also make an outright possession order if your landlord uses a discretionary ground. This usually happens if antisocial behaviour is very serious.

Eviction for rent arrears

Rent arrears is another thing you can be evicted for.

If you are behind in your rent, your landlord might want to use a rent arrears ground. The court could let you stay if you agree to pay the money you owe.

Your landlord might use one eviction notice if you have rent arrears and behave antisocially.

The court must order eviction for rent arrears if you're an assured housing association tenant and your landlord proves ground 8.

Ground 8 means that you had at least 8 weeks' arrears:

• when you were given your eviction notice and

• at the time of your court hearing

Try to get your arrears below 8 weeks by the time of the hearing.

Your case is likely to go to court sooner if you're also facing eviction for antisocial behaviour.

3. Eviction by bailiffs

Your landlord must ask the court for an eviction warrant if they want you to leave.

Only court bailiffs can evict you.

Your council or housing association can ask bailiffs to evict you if you:

• do not do what the suspended possession order tells you, for example you do not stop playing loud music

• stay in your home past the date when your outright possession order says you have to go

The bailiffs give you at least 2 weeks' notice of the eviction date.

Help from the council after eviction

Ask the council for help if you will be homeless after you are evicted.

You can do this even if you're evicted from a council home.

The council might say you're intentionally homeless if your antisocial behaviour was on purpose or you did not try to stop it. But they still have to give you some help.

You might get emergency housing if you have children, are pregnant or have another priority need.

If you face domestic abuse

You can ask the council for help with finding somewhere else to live if there is domestic abuse. You do not have to wait until you're evicted.

You can get a court order to make your abusive partner leave.

When your landlord goes to court to get an eviction order, the court can tell your partner to change their abusive behaviour even if you do not ask. The court can only do this if your partner is also the tenant.

Other tenancy types

Find out what to do if you have a:

• introductory council tenancy

• starter tenancy with a housing association