Sovereign Kingfisher is committed to ensuring safe neighhourhoods for its residents. As part of this, Sovereign Kingfisher works closely with local partners, especially the police, to deal swiftly with anti-social behaviour (ASB) complaints.
A recent success has been the eviction of two troublesome residents in White Horse Way. In this particular case the tenancy of an apartment had been abused with reported incidents of domestic violence and also possible drug dealing at the premises. The residents had also owned an aggressive dog which lived in the apartment which had caused concern for local residents.
Edward Telfer of Sovereign Kingfisher has worked very closely with Wiltshire police PC Adam Hall on this case. PC Hall had noted that the police had been called to the property more then 15 times over the past eight months for various reasons. Edward Telfer had also visited the property on a number of occasions to try and get this matter resolved without taking possession of the home. However, every time he visited the property the tenant was never home for the appointments, and if someone appeared to be in the door was never answered.
It was eventually decided that the best course of action for all concerned was to repossess the property and the tenants have now been evicted using a section 21 order (notes below). After an initial refusal to grant this order at court it was then recently granted due to the Edward Telfer fighting the matter in court with the help of the Sovereign Kingfisher legal department.
Ed Telfer, Housing Management Officer for Sovereign Kingfisher, said, “We are delighted that we have been successful in getting this eviction order. We take all instances of anti-social behaviour (ASB) very seriously indeed and Sovereign Kingfisher is focused on ensuring that our residents live in safe neighbourhoods.”
PC Adam Hall noted, “"We are really pleased to have worked closely with Sovereign Kingfisher on this eviction because despite our joint best efforts the residents haven't heeded out warnings or advice and have continued to affect the lives of their neighbours. Wiltshire Police are committed to working with partners to make our communities safer and more peaceful places for the benefit of everyone."
What is a section 21?
A section 21 notice is a two month notice given to a tenant stating that they must give up possession of the property at the end of the two month period. If the tenant fails to leave the property then the matter can be referred to the county court for a possession hearing asking for a possession order giving possession of the property as the tenant has failed to vacate the property.
On grounds of possession, section 21 is mandatory grounds which means that the Judge has no discretion and must give possession of the property within normally 28 days or he can extend this to a maximum of 56 days but possession must be granted. Section 21 notices are only used on all new tenants who have never held a tenancy before. These are called Assured Shorthold Tenancies more commonly known as a Starter Tenancy. These tenancies are probationary tenancies for 12 months and are designed to give the landlord more control over the tenancy if the tenant causes any anti social behaviour, or fall into rent arrears.
