If the tenant owes you rent
If the tenant owes more than two months rent if they pay rent on a monthly basis or eight weeks if rent is on a weekly basis, you have a mandatory ground for possession - a legal right to get the property back.
As long as you follow the correct procedure and can show the court proof of the debt, the court must agree to give you possession of the home.
If they owe less than eight weeks rent this is a discretionary ground for possession - that means a court does not have to agree to your request to evict the tenant if it thinks you're being unreasonable, or can't prove your case.
Waiting for benefit?
The tenant may be having problems because they're waiting for Housing Benefit. This is frustrating, but its easier to get payment from a tenant who lives there rather than from someone you've evicted.
Contact our Benefits Service before you take action. We will try to pay the benefit before the situation becomes serious. You may be able to get an interim payment while you're waiting.
Avoiding legal action
Its usually easier to get things sorted out between you rather than using legal action. If your tenant misses a rent payment, try and tackle the problem as soon as you can rather than let the debt build up.
Let the tenant pay off the debt with regular extra payments on top of their normal weekly rent. If you make a reasonable, affordable agreement there's more chance of the tenant sticking to it, so avoiding costly legal action.