Possession Order, High Court Writ of Possession, Notice of Eviction, and Stay Dismissal in London

The Situation

A landlord had obtained a possession order against the tenants of a first-floor residential flat in London, but the tenants remained in occupation. With the order unsatisfied, the landlord escalated the matter to the High Court and a sealed Writ of Possession was issued, transferring enforcement into the hands of an authorised High Court Enforcement Officer.

Enforcement of a residential writ carries a strict procedural burden. A statutory Notice of Eviction has to be personally served on every defendant, the eviction date and time have to be fixed and communicated in advance, and any application by the occupiers to delay the process has to be resolved by the court before agents can attend. Any misstep at this stage can invalidate the eviction and send the landlord back to court.

After searching for High Court writ of possession enforcement in London, the client contacted Strikes Property Services Group.

Our Approach

On receipt of the sealed writ, our High Court Enforcement Officer personally served a statutory Notice of Eviction on the defendants, setting out the date and the 8:00am start time for the execution. Serving the notice in person, rather than by post, removes any later argument that the occupiers were unaware the eviction was coming, and it gives the court a clean record of service if the eviction is challenged.

That challenge came. Three days before the scheduled attendance, the defendants applied for a stay of execution and the application was listed before the county court. Our team was prepared for the hearing and the application was heard and dismissed, with the court directing that enforcement of the writ should proceed exactly as scheduled. Because the eviction had been correctly noticed from the outset, the dismissal left the timetable intact and no fresh notice period was triggered.

On the morning of the eviction, our High Court Enforcement Officer met the attending enforcement agent and an appointed locksmith at 7.15am, three quarters of an hour ahead of the attendance time. A health and safety briefing was delivered and the operational procedure for executing the writ was talked through in full, so that every person on site understood their role, the sequence of events, and the legal limits of what could be done at the door.

The team attended the flat at 8:00am. On knocking, a male voice called out that the door was open, and our officer entered to find one of the occupiers waiting inside. There was no confrontation and no need to force entry. The flat had been cleared of the tenants’ goods and belongings entirely. Our officer handed the occupier a copy of the Notice of Possession so that he could present it to the local authority as formal evidence that he and his family had been evicted, a practical step that helps a departing household access rehousing support without having to obtain the paperwork themselves.

Outcome

With the occupiers out, the locksmith changed the locks and checked every window to confirm the flat was secure. Our officer carried out a complete room-by-room inspection and took timestamped photographic evidence recording the condition of the property and the fact that vacant possession had been obtained. A Notice of Possession was affixed to the front door, the flat was locked, and the landlord’s representative was contacted and arrangements made to hand over the new keys.

Vacant possession was obtained on behalf of the landlord at 8:45am, 45 minutes after attendance, with a full photographic record and no damage to the property. The case was managed by Andy McDermott (High Court Enforcement Officer) and Karen Pates (Certificated Enforcement Agent), with legal oversight from Jennifer Beatty (Consultant Solicitor), ensuring the writ was executed lawfully, the contested stay application was met head on, and the flat was returned to the landlord secure and ready to re-let.