Q. I BOUGHT a house for investment purposes back in Easter of 2016 found a tenant privately.

However, my tenant fails to pay the rent on time and whilst I have been tolerant in the past this has gone on too long and I now find myself six weeks in arrears, what are my options?

A: There are several options open to you depending on how this pans out.

However, given the current situation that you face I will describe one of the options open to you.

Landlords who wish to regain possession of a property that they let must serve written notice on their tenants.

The Deregulation Act which effects all tenancies created after October 1, 2015, means that the process has been simplified in that what is termed an S21 notice now comes in a prescribed format.

This removed the previous confusion over whether the tenancy was periodic or fixed as different rules applied and should you get the documentation wrong it meant that the courts if challenged would throw out your claim for possession, putting you back to square one.

Please note however that these rules only apply to tenancies created after the above date, so a tenancy that commence at Easter 2016 falls within the new scheme.

There is a caveat, all S21 notices can only be served assuming that you have already provided your tenant(s) with a valid gas safety certificate, an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate), the most recent version of How to rent: A checklist for renting in England and should you have taken a deposit then this requires registering within 30 days of receipt (again prescribed information must be provided with all deposits).

You are still required to give at least two months notice and the start of the notice can depend on what is mentioned within the tenancy agreement as to how notices are served and when they are seen to have been received.

The advantage of an S21 notice is that you do not have to provide a reason for serving the notice unlike a Section 8 notice which you list a specific ground or grounds that the tenant is either in breach of or has been placed on prior notice.

Some of these grounds are mandatory, however some are discretionary, which means going down this route may not necessarily mean that the courts will grant possession should you rely on one of the discretionary grounds.

However, you must bear in mind that even having served an S21 notice should your tenant fail to vacate you are still required to go to court to obtain possession via a court order if the tenant fails to vacate. However, even with a court order should your tenant still fail to vacate then you will need to return to court to instruct a bailiff.

This process can prove both expensive and lengthy.

Hopefully the tenant will vacate before you need to go down this route, though with all assured shorthold tenancies you must accept that sometimes things do not go to plan.

If you are seeking possession back sometimes a flexible approach on the dates can assist your tenant as it may not be easy for them to find alternative accommodation once given notice.

But likewise, tenants need to be aware that any new Landlord will be seeking a reference from you as the current Landlord so it is important that they do try to resolve the problems quickly to avoid things escalating out of control.

One way of doing this is for the tenant to bring the rent back up straight so there are no longer any arrears.

Please continue to send in your letting related questions to steven@sawyersestateagents.co.uk