Q. My tenants first moved into their property in 2006 and the tenancy agreement has been lost. Does this mean that I cannot evict them using section 21?

A. No, you can still use section 21. However, you will not be able to use the special (and so called) ‘accelerated’ possession procedure.  

The accelerated procedure is a paper-based procedure where the Judge normally makes his decision on the paperwork alone. However, as in your case, a critical piece of paperwork – the tenancy agreement – is missing, you will need to use the standard procedure.  

This means that there will be a court hearing where you will have to give oral evidence to the judge as to the existence of the tenancy – as this cannot be proved by the tenancy agreement. But, you can still use section 21.

Q. My tenant is a music teacher at a local school. She tells me that she wants to earn some extra income by giving music lessons at home and has asked my permission. Is this something I should agree to?