Secure tenants can only be evicted for certain legal reasons (known as grounds). Your landlord must prove to the court that at least one of these grounds exist to evict you.

If you are a demoted or introductory tenant, the council will not have to prove a ground and different rules apply for eviction.

If you are a secure tenant, the council may have grounds to evict you if:

• you have rent arrears
• you break a term of your tenancy agreement
• you (or people who live with you or visit you) cause nuisance or annoyance in your home or in the neighbourhood
• you (or people who live with you or visit you) cause nuisance to your landlord, their staff or contractors
• you use your home for illegal or immoral activities (eg drug dealing)
• you are violent towards your spouse, civil partner or partner, and s/he leaves as a result
• you damage your home or any furniture the council has provided with it
• you lied about your circumstances in order to get the tenancy in the first place
• you paid money in order to exchange your home
• you have lodgers or subtenants and your home is overcrowded as a result
• the council plans to demolish your home
• the council needs to do major repairs that it can’t do while you are living there
• your home was designed or adapted for a person with special needs, and the people in your household no longer need those special facilities
• you inherited the council tenancy after the original tenant died and the home is too big for you (provided you are not the original tenant’s spouse or civil partner).

Even if one or more of these grounds are established by the council, the court cannot evict you unless it is also satisfied that it is reasonable for a possession order to be made.

For some grounds, the council must offer you suitable alternative accommodation before a possession order can be made.  For example, if they want to evict you because your home was designed or adapted for a disabled person and no disabled person is living in your home the council must offer you somewhere suitable elsewhere.

If you, or someone living in your home, has:

• been convicted of a serious criminal offence
• breached an injunction to prevent nuisance or annoyance
• breached a criminal behaviour order
• had a closure order made on your property, or
• breached a noise abatement notice or court order in relation to noise nuisance

the court may have no choice other than to evict you if the council asks them to. This is because it is a mandatory ground for possession.

In some cases, this can even apply if the person convicted or breaching the orders is a visitor to your home.

Serious criminal offences include violence, sexual offence and those relating to drugs.

If the council decides to evict you on this ground, they must first give you a notice. You have 7 days from receiving that notice to ask the council to review their decision to evict you. If you want to ask for a review you must make sure you put your request in writing and set out the reasons why you think the council should change it’s decision. You are entitled to ask for the review to be dealt with at a hearing and to go along if you wish.

The council does not have the power to extend the 7 day time period so it is important that you act quickly if you are in this situation. Get advice now.

Get help now if you’re facing eviction. Call Shelter Cymru’s expert housing advice helpline on 0345 075 5005 or email our housing advice team. If you prefer, visit advice near you to find a local Shelter Cymru advice surgery where you can talk to someone in person. Have the papers you received from the court or your landlord with you when you speak to an adviser.

We are sorry that we cannot provide this information in Welsh, however if you would like to speak to an adviser in Welsh please contact 0345 075 5005.