If a landlord’s property is repossessed
If a landlord hasn't paid the mortgage on a property they rent, their mortgage lender can repossess it and the tenant could be evicted.
- In some cases, the mortgage lender will become the landlord. This happens if the tenancy is a binding tenancy.
- In most cases, the mortgage lender won't become the landlord and the tenant will have to leave, but the correct legal eviction process must still be followed.
To repossess the property the mortgage lender has to apply for a court hearing and then get a court order. The lender must send a notice to the property addressed to 'the tenant or the occupier' before the repossession hearing telling the occupiers the date of the hearing. After the court grants a repossession order, the lender can apply to the court for bailiffs to evict a tenant. The court could delay the eviction for up to two months if asked. It's important for the tenant to go to the repossession hearing to make sure the judge can take this into consideration.
Further information on mortgage repossessions is available from Shelter and GOV.UK.