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Court orders

If you haven’t left by the time any notice expires, your housing association will usually have to apply for an order from the county court telling you to leave. This is known as a possession order.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

All court proceedings for eviction were on hold until the 20 September 2020.

The eviction ban has now ended. From 21 September 2020, the courts have been able to start to deal with evictions again.

Depending on what steps had been taken before the eviction ban, the legal process could still take several months.

If your landlord had started court proceedings to evict you before 3 August 2020 and wants to continue the proceedings they will need to send a notice to you and to the court. This is called a ‘Reactivation Notice’. In the notice they must give information to the court about the impact coronavirus has had on you and your family.

You will be contacted by the court if this happens and you will be told if there is to be a court hearing. The hearing might be dealt with by video or audio link.

You should still pay your rent while you are waiting for a court hearing. Make sure you tell your landlord or lender about the affect that coronavirus has had on you and your family. Do this in an email or text and keep a copy so that you can show this to the court if asked.

If you are struggling to pay your rent, see our advice.

See Gov.Wales for the current Welsh Government advice.

See Public Health Wales for up to date health advice.

What do I do if I receive court papers?

If you receive papers from the court telling you that the housing association has applied for a possession order, it is important that you get advice straight away.

The sooner you get advice, the more likely you are to keep your home.

Sometimes housing associations are able to get a possession order automatically, but other times they need to prove a reason (also known as a ‘ground‘) to the court.

Unless you are an assured shorthold tenant and your landlord is relying on a ‘section 21 – no fault’ notice, there will automatically be a court hearing.

Always try and go to the court hearing. If you have no adviser, some courts have a duty adviser or solicitors available on the day of the hearing who may be able to help you.

For more information about what to expect during the court process, click here.

What orders can the court make?

If you have an assured tenancy it is likely that the judge will make one of the following orders:

  • dismiss the claim
  • adjourn (postpone) the hearing (this might be on a condition, for example, that you regularly pay your rent and something towards the arrears)
  • make a suspended possession order
  • make an outright possession order
  • make a money judgment.

    For more information on each of these orders, see our page on What orders can be made?

If you have an assured shorthold (starter) tenancy or demoted tenancy, the court will not have so much choice about what order to make. It is important that you seek advice.

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 08000 495 495.

Other pages in eviction

Preventing eviction
Private tenants
Housing association tenants
Council tenants
Mobile homes
Court action
Harassment and illegal eviction

See all advice topics

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08000 495 495

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This page was last updated on: September 22, 2020

Shelter Cymru acknowledges the support of Shelter in allowing us to adapt their content. The information contained on this site is updated and maintained by Shelter Cymru and only gives general guidance on the law in Wales. It should not be regarded or relied upon as a complete or authoritative statement of the law.

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