21/11/2017

This week, HM Court and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) have published an updated version of form N5B, the court form used by landlords seeking possession of a property under the accelerated possession scheme.

The revised N5B finally seeks to incorporate the changes made to s21 of the Housing Act 1988 by the Deregulation Act 2015 by making a number of additions to the Claim Form.

These additions include:

  • Asking the landlord to confirm that a valid energy performance certificate (EPC) has been given to the tenant and the date on which it was provided;
  • A requirement that, where necessary, a landlord provides proof that a gas safety certificate has been supplied to the tenant;
  • Asking the landlord to confirm whether they a private registered provider of social housing and, if not, seeking proof that the 'How to Rent: the checklist for renting in England' document has been provided to the tenant;
  • A new check that the landlord has not been served with ' a relevant notice' in relation to the condition of the property under s11, 12 or 40(7) of the Housing Act 2004 and asks for additional information where such a notice has been served; and
  • A new document checklist to confirm that all relevant documents have been duly attached to the Claim Form.                                                                          

The new claim form can be viewed here.

The Housing Management team at Bevan Brittan are running a Tenancy Enforcement Seminar on 30 November 2017 at our Bristol offices.  This will include a session on S21 notices and the new accelerated possession court form. Places can be booked via our online events page.

N5B Wales is the new amended form N5B to be used in respect of properties 'wholly located' in Wales.

The form should now be used in reference to all claims for possession made under the accelerated possession procedure. It is hoped that this form will speed up the process of securing a possession order as judges will be given all of the information they need to make a decision straight away, without having to go back to the landlord for any clarifications.

Our use of cookies

We use necessary cookies to make our site work. We'd also like to set optional analytics cookies to help us improve it. We won't set optional cookies unless you enable them. Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences. For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Cookies page.

Necessary cookies

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.

Analytics cookies

We'd like to set Google Analytics cookies to help us to improve our website by collection and reporting information on how you use it. The cookies collect information in a way that does not directly identify anyone.
For more information on how these cookies work, please see our Cookies page.