Applying to court after serving a Section 21 (Accelerated Possession) in Wales

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Following the introduction of Renting Homes (Wales) Act on December 1st 2022, landlords in Wales may no longer serve Section 21 notices in Wales. 

Last updated 25 March 2022 - return to pre-covid notice periods

Introduction

Once the notice period for a Section 21 notice has expired most tenants will have moved out and you will be free to relet the property. In some cases the tenant will remain in the property though; in these cases your next step is likely to be applying to court for a possession order.

For most landlords this means applying under the accelerated possession procedure. The accelerated possession procedure is fairly straightforward, inexpensive and does not normally involve a court hearing. The court will make its decision by looking at the documents that the landlord and tenant provide to decide whether to grant/reject a possession order or to call a hearing if further investigation is warranted.

When can I apply for a possession order using accelerated possession?

Landlords can only use the accelerated possession procedure to gain a possession order when a valid section 21 notice has been served. These notices are only available to assured shorthold tenancies.

If you do have an assured shorthold tenancy then you can apply for a possession order using accelerated possession if:

  • your tenancy began on or after 28 February 1997; and
  • your tenancy agreement is in writing and you still retain copies of the documents; and
  • you have served a valid Section 21 notice and that notice has expired.

Completion notes for the N5B form

To assist with this, the NRLA has produced some completion notes to help our members fill out the latest version

Members only

The downloadable content on this page is exclusively available to members. This includes completion notes for both the N5B form to apply for possession and the N325 form if you need to apply for a bailiff to enforce that order.

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Notice of coronavirus' impact

As of 3 August 2020, all new applications for accelerated possession require you to attach a notice to your application for accelerated possession. This notice must set out what information you know about how your tenants have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

What if I don't know anything about how coronavirus has affected my tenants?

If you do not know anything regarding coronavirus' impact on your tenants then you must still state this through 

Is there a prescribed format for this document?

This notice does not have to come in any particular format and it is not mentioned on the N5B form itself but this notice is essential if you are making a new application to court.

How do I serve this notice?

This notice should be attached to the back of each copy of the N5B that you make as part of your application.

Notice detailing knowledge of coronavirus' impact

Last updated: 03/08/2020 at 15:36 - 702.02 KB

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