Per Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, Part 5 (Recovery of possession of dwelling-houses: anti-social behaviour grounds) Section 97 (corresponding new ground and notice requirements for assured tenancies), Section 98 (conduct causing nuisance to landlords etc) and Section 99 (offences connected with riot) ground 14 has been revised and new grounds for possession 7A and 14ZA have been enacted.

Ground 7A (mandatory)
The court will be required to grant possession under the new ground (ground 7A) if any of one of the five conditions in that ground is met. The five conditions relate to anti-social behaviour by the tenant, a member of the tenant’s household or a visitor to the property.

Condition 1, 2 or 3 will be met if the tenant, a member of the tenant’s household or a person visiting the property has been:

• convicted of a serious offence (which is one of the offences set out in new Schedule 2A to the 1985 Act as inserted by subsection (2) of section 94 and Schedule 3 to the Act);
• found by a court to have breached an injunction obtained under section 1 of the Act; or
• convicted for breach of a criminal behaviour order obtained under section 22 of the Act.

The offence or anti-social conduct must have been committed in the dwelling-house or in the locality of the dwelling-house, affected a person with a right to live in the locality of the dwelling-house or affected the landlord or a person connected with the landlord’s housing management functions.

Condition 4 will be met if the tenant’s property has been closed under a closure order obtained under section 80 of the Act as a result of anti-social behaviour in or near the property and the total period of closure (under the order or under a preceding closure notice) was more than 48 hours.

Condition 5 will be met if the tenant, a member of the tenant’s household or a person visiting the property has been convicted for breach of a notice or order to abate noise in relation to the tenant’s property under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

For further information regarding the limitations of the aforementioned conditions please contact the office.

Ground 14 (discretionary)
This amends the existing discretionary grounds for possession for anti-social behaviour (ground 14) so that they also apply where anti-social behaviour occurs outside the locality of the dwelling-house. The amendments allow a landlord to apply for possession of a secure or assured tenant’s property where the tenant or a person living in or visiting the tenant’s property has been guilty of conduct that is likely to cause nuisance or annoyance to the landlord, or a person employed in connection with the exercise of the landlord’s housing management functions.

Ground 14ZA (discretionary)
This section adds a new discretionary ground for possession so that a landlord can apply for possession of a secure or assured tenant’s property where the tenant or an adult living in the tenant’s property has been convicted of an indictable offence committed at the scene of a riot which took place anywhere in the UK.

For section 13 notices it is to update that any rent not agreed should be referred to the tribunal using the amended forms 'Application referring a notice proposing a new rent under an Assured Periodic Tenancy or Agricultural Occupancy to a Tribunal' (form 6).