The below is correct as of writing (13/11/2015 including fees quoted) however as per all UK law's, it is subject to change with no notice so please ensure you check the relevant pages on gov.uk before enacting upon the information given
We have recently had a tenant who passed away without a Next of Kin, or a will, which possession procedures after such an event are a little different and it is quite possible that some of us may not know this. So I am therefore posting the below steps you need to follow. You can of course also find the procedures on the gov.uk websiteNB: If your tenant dies without an Executor OR will, then the tenancy is automatically transferred to the Public Trustee.
NB: You can’t take back a property automatically even if the tenancy was due to end and You risk being fined if you try to repossess a property without following the below:
To reclaim your property you must:
- Order a NL1 form (it has a cost of £5.05p) and will be sent to you via Royal Mail
- Post or deliver a letter to the tenant’s last known address saying you’re giving written notice.
- NB:you do not need to wait for the NL1 to arrive to issue the notice letter)
- You must then send a copy of the notice and the completed NL1 form to the Public Trustee
- Then you must register the notice with the Public Trustee
“The Personal Representative of [full name of the tenant who died] of [last known address for the tenant who died]”
We are informed by gov.uk that even though the ‘Public Trustee’ won’t accept photocopies of the official form, we could recreate our own which they would then accept? this didn't make sense to us so we therefore purchased an official form – for the sake of £5.05 in our eyes it didn't make sense to ‘test the system’.
The official NL1 form sold by Oyez at this link http://www.oyezstore.co.uk/LT-product-details.asp?id=4714
You will need to make a payment of £40 to register the notice. Pay by cheque or postal order, payable to ‘The Public Trustee’.
Recap of what you need to send to the Public Trustee:
Send the Public Trustee all of the following:
- A copy of the written notice
- The completed application form to register the notice
- Your payment for the application to register
The Public Trustee
PO Box 3010
London
WC2A 1AX
What Happens Next?
You will be informed by letter of the outcome, and it will be decided that:
- Your application is registered - you’ll be told the date it was put in the register OR
- Your application is rejected, e.g. because your application is incomplete
Finally, You will be able to search the Public Trustee’s register if your notice is registered. You will want to do this to check that you can legally rent the property again etc.
