Streamlined eviction process - criminal or antisocial behaviour: statutory guidance for social landlords

3. Purpose and Use of the Streamlined Eviction Process

3.1 The purpose of the streamlined eviction process is to help landlords to take action on serious antisocial or criminal behaviour more quickly in some cases to help reduce the harm that is caused to individuals and communities.

3.2 The streamlined eviction process is intended to help to speed up eviction in cases where:

• serious antisocial or criminal behaviour has already been proven in court;
• the behaviour which led to the conviction was in, or in the locality of the tenant’s house; and
• the landlord considers that eviction action is appropriate, such as to protect neighbours and other people living or working in or near a social housing property from harm.

3.3 The process requires a notice of proceedings to be served before the first anniversary of the date of the conviction, or where that conviction was appealed, the day on which the appeal was dismissed or abandoned. In considering whether to serve such a notice in that timescale, the landlord should consider the content of Section 4 of this guidance. Landlords will also want to ensure that their Antisocial Behaviour Strategy/Policy covers this measure.

3.4 In those antisocial or criminal behaviour cases where the notice of proceedings has not been served in the required timescale, or where the landlord does not consider the streamlined eviction process is appropriate, they can continue to use the ground set out in paragraph 2 of schedule 2 of the 2001 Act, either in its own right or combined with any of the other conduct grounds in schedule 2 to raise eviction proceedings. The statutory test of reasonableness at section 16(2)(a) of the 2001 Act will however continue to apply to those cases where the streamlined eviction process has not been asked for by the landlord in the statement of claim section of the court writ when raising court action.