Ground S.84

The landlord can issue a claim for possession under this Ground if:

At least one of the following conditions must be met:


Condition 1: Conviction for a Serious Offence

This applies if:

a) The tenant (the person renting the property)
or
b) A person residing in (someone living in the property)
or
c) A person visiting the dwelling-house (a guest)

has been convicted (found guilty by a court) of a serious offence (an offence listed in Schedule 2A of the Housing Act 1985).

and

The offence must have been committed in one of the following locations:

a) ‘In, or in the locality of, the dwelling-house’ (inside the property or in the surrounding neighbourhood)
or
b) ‘Elsewhere, against a person with a right to reside in or occupy housing accommodation in the locality of the dwelling-house’ (committed somewhere else but against a person who lives in or has the right to live in the area).
or
c) ‘Elsewhere, against the landlord or a person employed in connection with the exercise of the landlord’s housing management functions, and directly or indirectly related to or affected those functions’ (committed anywhere but against the landlord or housing staff while they were performing their housing-related duties).


Condition 2: Breach of an Injunction Under Section 1 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014

This applies if a court has ruled in relevant court proceedings that:

a) The tenant, a resident, or a visitor breached (failed to follow) an injunction under section 1 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (a court order requiring a person to stop engaging in anti-social behaviour).

and

b) The breach must have taken place:

i. ‘In, or in the locality of, the dwelling-house’ (inside the property or the surrounding area)
or
ii. ‘Elsewhere, if the injunction was meant to prevent conduct causing nuisance or annoyance to persons in the locality or affecting the landlord’s housing management functions’ (breached in another location but still caused harm to neighbours or interfered with the landlord’s housing duties).


Condition 3: Breach of a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) Under Section 30 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014

This applies if the tenant, a resident, or a visitor:

a) Has been convicted of an offence under section 30 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 – breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO)).

and

b) The breach must have involved:

i. ‘A breach that occurred in, or in the locality of, the dwelling-house’ (inside or near the property)
or
ii. ‘A breach that occurred elsewhere but involved harassment, alarm, or distress to a person in the locality or the landlord’s housing management functions’ (committed elsewhere but still negatively affected people in the area or disrupted housing services).


Condition 4: Closure Order Under Section 80 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014

This applies if:

a)The dwelling-house (the property being rented) was subject to a closure order under section 80 (a legal order closing a property due to serious nuisance, disorder, or criminal activity).

and

b) Access was prohibited for a continuous period of more than 48 hours (residents or visitors were not allowed to enter for at least two days).


Condition 5: Conviction for a Noise Nuisance Offence

This applies if the tenant, a resident, or a visitor has been convicted of breaching environmental laws on noise nuisance. Specifically, they must have been convicted under:

a) Section 80(4) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (failing to comply with a Noise Abatement Notice), 
or
b) Section 82(8) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (failing to comply with a court order requiring abatement of a statutory nuisance).

and

The nuisance must have involved:

‘Noise emitted from the dwelling-house which was a statutory nuisance’ (excessive noise coming from the property that was legally classified as harmful to health or a nuisance).


Exceptions to all Conditions under this Ground:

The Ground for possession does not apply if:

a) An appeal against the conviction, finding, or order is still pending (if the tenant is still challenging the court decision).

b) An appeal against the conviction, finding, or order was successful, and the conviction, finding, or order has been overturned.


Mandatory Ground

As this is a mandatory ground, if the landlord proves the ground, the court must order possession. There is no power vested in the court to consider ‘reasonableness’ of granting possession in relation this this mandatory ground if the landlord is able to prove the requirements of the Ground.

The only potential Defences to this Ground are the following:

a) The tenant successfully disproving any of the landlord’s claims that the Ground has been proved

b) Defences under the Human Rights Act 1998

c) Defences under the Equality Act 2010 

d) Public Law Defences 

e) Failure to follow the review requirements pursuant to section 85ZA of the decision to seek possession under the Mandatory Ground of Section 84A Housing Act 1985 

e) Procedural errors in bringing the Claim