Where a mortgage lender claims possession of a property that has been let without the lender's...
Where a mortgage lender claims possession of a property that has been let without the lender's permission, the Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants etc) Act 2010 gives tenants the right to apply to the courts to postpone the date for delivery of possession by up to two months. A tenant who did not receive notice of possession proceedings in respect of her flat recently succeeded in her claim that her right to apply for such a postponement had been frustrated.
The tenant had entered into an assured shorthold tenancy with a leaseholder who held a mortgage with a bank. The bank brought possession proceedings against the leaseholder and served notice of those proceedings on the tenant by first-class post. However, the flat numbers in the block of flats where she lived had recently been changed and the tenant claimed that she had never received any post from the bank.
The bank argued that, in serving notice by first-class post, it was in strict compliance with the requirements of Regulation 5(1)(a) of the Dwelling Houses (Execution of Possession Orders by Mortgagees) Regulations 2010. However, the bank had been aware that the flat numbers were being changed. The obligation to give notice at the property had to be read in the light of the purpose of the legislation, which was to give innocent tenants more time to find alternative accommodation. The bank should have attempted one of the alternative methods of service under Regulation 5(1)(b) or 5(1)(c) of the Regulations.