Services & Prices

All the services provided by LIS are charged at a fixed rate. Discuss with us your problem and we will advise you on the appropriate service and give you a price.

Payment of service

To cover legal and administrative costs 50% of the cost of any service is to be paid in advance. The outstanding amount is to be paid on completion of the service. Refunds will be given at the discretion of the management.

Full details of LIS services and costs

Service	1 -	Advisory service
Service	2 -	Notices
		Notices and Court Notice served at sign up Notice served at time of breach Costs
Service	3 -	Mediation
Service	4 -	Possession Proceedings
		Cost
	4a -	Accelerated Possession
		Cost
	4b -	Possession Proceedings (with hearing)
		Costs
Service	5 -	Hand Holding Service on Possession Proceedings
		Costs
Service	6 -	Eviction
		Costs
Service	7 -	Former Tenants Advice
Service	8 -	Full Possession Package

LIS provides expert housing management advice to any private landlord. LIS recognise that there are times when you simply do not know what action to take against a problem tenant, dispute or breach of tenancy. LIS will provide basic free advice on the most appropriate solution.

LIS provide:

There are several different types of notices to be served on tenants. Any notices served on tenants must be in the correct form and meet all the prescribed legal requirements. If a notice is served, which is incorrect there is a risk that when the notice is used in court as evidence the case will be thrown out. This can be a very costly mistake for any landlord to make. If you are not sure what notice to serve contact LIS.

If court proceedings are entered into, you must prove to the Judge that the notice on which you are relying on has been served on the defendant (tenant). If you can't prove service of the notice you run the expensive risk of having the case thrown out of the court. The best form of service is hand delivery. Sending notices by ordinary post gives the defendant the chance to deny receipt and service cannot be proved.

Some landlords and letting agents serve Section 21 notices to tenants at the same point as they are signing them up. This has become common practice because it gets over the problem of proving service of a notice. If the notice has been personally served on the tenant at the sign up, receipt cannot be denied. Section 21 notices also do not have an expiry date therefore, can be used at any point to issue proceedings on. The downside of serving a notice at the signup is that the severity and meaning of a Section 21 notice is lost on the tenant. A Section 21 notice should be served when a tenant has breached their tenancy. Serving at the time of the breach hopefully makes the tenant think about what they are doing and the fact they may loose their home if they continue with the breach.

A notice (Section 8) seeking possession can instead be served on one of the 17 grounds of possession. The grounds of possession are divided into mandatory and discretionary if a discretionary ground of possession is used in the notice 'reasonableness' will have to be proved to the judge before possession is granted. Many landlords, therefore, prefer to issue a Section 21 notice to tenants, whatever the problem may be. The tenant has no defence if possession proceedings are entered into on a Section 21 notice.

Notices are a very good property management tool if used timely and correctly.

A Section 21 notice once served does not have an expiry date, a notice (Section 8) seeking possession however is time bound.

What LIS do

To ensure that notices are accepted as served by a court, LIS will serve notices by hand to the tenant if available, deliver them through individual letter boxes and/or affix them to the property. Hand delivery of notices guarantees service and prevents a tenant from claiming in court that 'the notice was not received'. Failure to prove service of notice could lead a Judge to adjourn or dismiss a case. If this does happen it can be an expensive inconvenience to landlords. LIS therefore, strongly recommends that all notices are hand delivered.

LIS will:

Landlord & Tenant disputes can be solved without the need for costly legal action. Contacting tenants directly and speaking with them is the most straight forward and easy way to solve disputes. If landlords want to use our mediation services then LIS will make contact with the tenant and discuss the dispute with them to ensure a resolution occurs.

Mediation from an external agency has the ability of scaring some tenants into managing their tenancies as they should be. They are no longer dealing with the landlord i.e. someone they know, and so they are likely to start behaving in a 'tenant like manner'. Often mediation produces such excellent results that possession action is not necessary. A notice followed by constant personal contact and letters is enough to solve the problem or dispute.

In the case of rent arrears LIS can even look at your tenant's incomings and outgoings and decide on the most appropriate form of repayment. At LIS we know about making realistic agreements with tenants that they can afford to stick to.

Taking disputes to court should only be a last resort. Solving disputes outside of court is a far better and more cost effective outcome for both landlords and tenants.

Costs for LIS mediating with your tenant start at a very competitive £25

If the dispute cannot be resolved landlords have little choice other then to take action to evict their tenants. Landlords can only evict a tenant once they have a possession order, which is obtained through the County Court.

LIS offers three options for evicting tenants. If you speak to LIS before making your choice we will advise you on which option is best for your situation. LIS aims to provide a service that solves your problem and minimises your losses.

The Court Rules provide for a fast track procedure for possession in the case of assured shorthold tenancies called Accelerated Possession Proceedings. This procedure can only be used where a landlord seeks to recover possession of property let through a shorthold tenancy and through the service of a notice under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.

This process culminates in a Court hearing in which the Judge will consider the claim for possession in the absence of the parties. If the Judge accepts the claim a possession order will be granted. On receiving the order an application to the court bailiffs is made to apply for an eviction date. From filing papers to court to carrying out the eviction the process usually takes around 12 weeks. If the Judge is not satisfied with any of the paperwork relating to the claim for possession a hearing date will be fixed. This will create delays in the process.

A few examples of the situations in which you would use the accelerated procedure are:

You would not use accelerated proceedings if you require a claim for rent arrears as a judgement cannot be issued against the debt.

The cost for service 4a is £580.00 this includes instructing solicitors for the filing of court application for a possession claim, court fee and obtaining a possession order.

If proceedings are necessary after a notice has been served, LIS can instruct solicitors to issue proceedings at the County Court. Full possession proceedings with a hearing should be used for all cases where possession is required due to rent arrears. A barrister will be instructed to attend the hearing going before the Judge to obtain a possession order and money judgement against the debt.

The cost for service 4b which includes instructing solicitors to complete court application for possession proceedings, court fee, obtaining court date, instruction of barrister to attend court hearing and obtaining possession order is £880.

Please note if the 1st hearing is adjourned to another date the above costs will increase.

Landlord and tenant possession hearings are straightforward if you know what you are doing. LIS provides a hand holding service that will allow any landlord to present their own possession cases before the County Court Judge. The courts will accept a landlord as representing themselves without a solicitor/barrister present in a possession hearing. LIS will provide comprehensive guidance on the completion of possession claim form and equipping landlords with the necessary practical tools to attend the possession hearing and present your own possession claim before the Judge.

The costs for service 5 includes LIS helping landlords with the completion of the particulars of claim and providing full and practical steps on attending court and presenting case before a Judge total cost is £180

Please note for a representative of LIS to attend the hearing the above costs will increase.

Service 6 - Eviction

If tenants do not leave the property after obtaining a possession order, LIS can apply to the Court Bailiff for their eviction. The eviction will legally end the tenancy giving you vacant possession of your property.

The costs of the locksmith for forcing entry and changing locks will be extra. LIS will add the cost of the locksmith charges to the final invoice.

The provision of free advice on former tenants. This can be on dealing with any rent arrears and what to do with any personal items remaining in the property.

Service 8 - Full Possession Package

There are occasions when you just want your property back. If you know you want to evict your tenants and take back possession of your property LIS can offer a full possession package. This package includes preparing and serving a notice on your tenant, issuing possession proceedings, obtaining a court order, applying for bailiff's warrant to evict your tenants and giving you back possession of your property.

The cost of providing this package starts at £780. This price will vary depending on location of the property, whether a full possession hearing is required, whether solicitors and barristers are to be used and level of involvement at the eviction stage.

LIS strongly recommend that you discuss your dispute or problem with us before deciding on the service to take out. LIS want to ensure that the best service for your particular situation is given.