No Smoking Clause

Campaigning and Policy

Sometimes a landlord will stipulate in a tenancy agreement that a tenant must not smoke or permit others to smoke any tobacco products in the property. To strengthen this, some landlords get prospective tenants to complete and sign an application form where they will confirm whether or not they smoke. If, however, this clause is violated and there is/has been smoking inside the property, the landlord may be able to seek possession under the discretionary Ground 12 of Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988. Even if there is clear evidence of this, it is usually very difficult to obtain possession under discretionary grounds. Also, if the tenant defends, such a case would be very long drawn out and expensive.