A S21 notice has been issued and the sole tenant has left the flat and a friend has been staying in the flat and no rent has been paid since the S21 notice was issued. An abandonment notice was placed on the flat door and the lock was changed. There are chattels in the flat which I intend to have removed after 28 days.
Do I need to process the S21 notice through the courts after the abandonment notice expires in order to regain my flat?
Is the other person still living there?
Did the tenant return their keys ?
No the other person can’t get in because the locks have been changed and he can’t prove that he lived there.
The tenant has neither returned the keys or had any communication since the S21 notice. However I did get a call from the local authority homeless team stating he had made an appointment with them but he hadn’t shown up
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You may have illegally evicted the tenant by changing the locks. The s21 notice does not end the tenancy, so unless you have good evidence of some sort of surrender of the tenancy, you could have a problem. The tenant retaining control of the keys and allowing a guest to remain there would be used against you as evidence that the tenancy is not abandoned and there is no implied surrender.
I suggest you seek legal advice from a specialist lawyer or eviction company asap.
Write to the tenant in a non hostile way documenting that whilst the keys are not returned they are liable for the council tax utilities etc.
That usually gets them to the table
The only problem is the abandonment of grey
Most tenants served a s21 will have an appointment at the local authority for housing as they are obliged to house them
They usually use the rent not paid for future rent and deposit
It sounds like he may have been sorted