Consensual Adjustment or Substitution of Tenancy Agreement

Possession - Section 8 and Section 21

Dear Forum,

I have a vulnerable tenant family which has broken many of the terms of our NRLA tenancy agreement in terms of noise, nuisance etc etc. The agreement expires in seven months time and - under rightful pressure from the local council - action needs to be taken sooner. As things stand, I will have to follow a S8 eviction process which all the vagaries and sheer ugliness of that process.

The tenant accepts that I will be unable to issue any reference which would persuade another landlord to volunteer to take them on and intends to rely on being rehoused by the local council due to homelessness, upon any successful eviction.

The tenant appears anxious to avoid a S8 eviction for reasons similar to my own.

Is it legally possible to sign a mutually agreed AMENDMENT to the existing tenancy agreement, bringing forward the end date in order to proceed with a S21 eviction? This would expedite the end of the (now amended) tenancy, reduce the stress of the eviction for both sides and allow the tenant to present as homeless after the eviction had taken place.

It is my understanding that a mutually agreed SUBSTITUTE tenancy agreement for a foreshortened period, (again to enable the S21 eviction process to be followed with minimum delay) would be ineffective in this case as a S21 cannot be issued until six months of the tenancy has elapsed.

Thank you for your assistance.