Stage 2: Starting court proceedings for possession (accelerated possession)

About this service

Use this pack after correctly serving a notice confirming which deposit protection scheme you are using and/or a section 21 notice, and the tenant(s) have not vacated the premises within the time stipulated in the notice, you can use this pack to start court proceedings to obtain an order evicting your tenant(s).

The documents contained in this pack give you everything you must use in order to start court proceedings and obtain an order for possession. The pack contains all the court forms, letters and ancillary documents, such as schedules required to follow the court procedure and to claim back your costs, where your tenancy agreement states that the tenant(s) will be liable to pay for them.

You should begin the process by completing the document 'Form N5B - Claim for possession of property (accelerated procedure)' and send this to the court along with the associated covering letter 'Covering letter for claim form N5B (issuing claim at court)'.

If the tenant(s) fails to defend your claim in the prescribed time governed by the court procedure, you will need to use the 'Letter requesting judgment in default (accelerated possession procedure)' and, if your tenancy agreement states that the tenant(s) will be liable to pay for your costs, our 'Schedule of costs for applications to court to recover costs'.

Pack documents:

  • Form N5B - Claim for possession of property (accelerated procedure)
  • Covering letter for claim form N5B (issuing claim at court)
  • Letter requesting judgment in default (accelerated possession procedure)
  • Schedule of costs for applications to court to recover costs

This product is suitable for use in: England

  • Law Firm Review

  • What you get for £194.99 See how this compares
  • Want to to try the service out?
  • Buy now
    • 1 Your document reviewed by our team of legal professionals within 3 working days
    • 2 Access to our team for advice over the phone
    • 3 Helpful explanations and guidance throughout
    • 4 Customer services advisors on hand to answer any service queries
    • 5 Secure online document storage, tracking and print facility
Prefer to call us for advice or prepare a document by phone? 0800 612 3556
Business law plan

This document is available as part of our Business law plan

Included in this service:

  • Covering letter for claim form N5B (issuing claim at court)

    Use this covering letter to the court if you're a landlord applying for a possession order using the accelerated possession procedure for assured shorthold tenancy agreements. You will need to have already completed claim form N5B. This document can only be used for properties rented in England.

  • Form N5B - Claim for possession of property (accelerated procedure)
    Use this court form to apply for a county court possession order for a property let under an assured shorthold tenancy agreement (AST) in England. It will create cover sheets for you to attach supporting documents to, if your circumstances require it.

    To use this form, all of the following must be true:

    • You're claiming possession of a property rented under a AST that began on or after 28 February 1997.
    • All the fixed-term or contractual periodic AST agreements with the tenants are written.
    • All of the tenants are individuals (i.e. not companies or organisations).
    • At least one of the tenants occupies the property as their only home.
    • None of the tenants are employed as an agricultural worker.
    • If there is more than one landlord, none of them operate as a business.
    • A section 21 notice has been served on the all the tenants at the same time and in the same way.
    • Your claim is only for possession of your property and doesn't include any other claim (e.g. rent arrears).
    • If you've received a deposit, you've paid it into a government-approved tenancy deposit scheme.
    • If the first or latest tenancy agreement is dated on or before 1st December 2003, you've paid any owed stamp duty.
  • Letter requesting judgment in default (accelerated possession procedure)
    This document creates a covering letter to the court for a landlord issuing an application for judgment in default, which is used to obtain a possession order against a tenant who has failed to file a defence at court in time. To use this document, you will need to have issued a claim at court for possession of the property using 'Form N5B - Claim form for possession of property' and completed the application form for judgment in default which is provided by the court. Please note that this document can only be used in England and Wales.
  • Schedule of costs for applications to court to recover costs
    This document creates a schedule of costs to be used in general court proceedings by a litigant acting in person when applying to recover their costs of time spent and expenses incurred in conducting a claim.
Compatible region(s): England

Most documents take about 15 - 45 minutes

You can try the service out beforehand, and can save your progress at any time and come back to the document later.

We're here to help

Your document will be reviewed by our legal experts, and you can call us at any time

How MyLawyer works

  1. Fill in an questionnaire online Answer the straightforward questions at your convenience
  2. Submit to a team of legal professionals Our team will advise you and approve your document
  3. Print and sign your document Once approved, simply print and sign your document

See how we helped Michael

"Fantastic! The legal document I used was so comprehensive and easy to complete. It is very reassuring to know my business now has this level of protection"

Michael S, London

Copyright © 2024 Epoq Group Ltd. All trademarks acknowledged, all rights reserved

This website is operated by Epoq Legal Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 3707955, whose registered office is at 2 Imperial Place, Maxwell Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, WD6 1JN. Epoq Legal Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA number 645296).

Our use of cookies

We use necessary cookies to make our site work. We would also like to set some optional cookies. We won't set these optional cookies unless you enable them. Please choose whether this site may use optional cookies by selecting 'On' or 'Off' for each category below. Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences.

For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Cookie notice.

Necessary cookies

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.

Functionality cookies

We'd like to set cookies to provide you with a better customer experience. For more information on these cookies, please see our cookie notice.