What to Do if My Tenant is Not Paying Rent in North London?

While being a landlord can be a rewarding investment, if your tenant stops paying rent, it can be a very stressful time. It can be tempting to react immediately, but it is important to deal with the situation calmy and by following the correct legal processes.

The rules around dealing with unpaid rent have changed significantly from 1 May 2026 under the Renters’ Rights Act and if you don’t comply with the relevant legislation, you could be facing greater concerns than simply non-payment of rent.

If you are a landlord in Willesden Green, Kilburn or West Hampstead – or beyond – this article will help you to safely navigate the unwanted situation of a tenant not paying their rent, by following the latest legislation.

What Should I Do If My Tenant Stops Paying Rent?

If you are in the situation where you are left wondering – ‘my tenant is not paying rent, what do I do next?’ – it is important that you do not react until you have checked the correct legal processes to follow.

The first step to resolve the situation is to contact the tenant but you should make sure that you do so professionally, without breaching any rules. For example, you should avoid behaviour that could be deemed as harassment.

The best approach is to either call the tenant, or send an email or text message to find out more about the reason behind the unpaid rent. There may be a simple explanation that can be easily rectified.

If the situation escalates to a point where you need to go to court, records of all the communications regarding the missed rent payment will be important evidence. So, if you speak to the tenant over the phone, you should send a follow up email that summarises the conversion and any agreement that is made.

At this point, you should be looking to get a better understanding of the situation and if a simple solution is not possible and you need to take further steps, you should do this in a measured way.

The following sections explain the processes to follow to try and resolve the situation while adhering to the regulations.

Do’s And Dont’s When Seeking To Claim Rent

There are several actions that could land you in trouble, so be careful to avoid any of the following:

Don’t:

• Trespass on the property
• Change the locks
• Act in a way that is aggressive or unprofessional
• Harass the tenant or show unreasonable behaviour
• Cut off electricity or gas supply
• Try to evict the tenant without following the correct legal processes

Taking any of these illegal actions could result in criminal prosecution and following the correct legal process is even more important now that court possession is the only lawful route.

Do:

• Communicate in a professional and empathetic manner
• Keep records of your communications with your tenant
• Provide options to help resolve the situation e.g. repayment plans
• Explain the potential consequences if the rent goes unpaid

My Tenant Is Not Paying Rent – How To Respond

These are the steps to take to handle unpaid rent legally and professionally:

1. Stay Calm  

Before you make any rash decisions, remember that you must stay calm and communicate with your tenant in a polite and courteous way. If you act unprofessionally, this could cause you problems if the situation escalates and goes to court.

2. Contact Your Tenant

Contact your tenant to advise them of the missed payment and to find out why the payment has been missed, there may be a legitimate reason for the missed payment that can be easily resolved. For example, there may have been a delay in salary or benefits payment.

Be empathetic to their situation and if they are unable to make the payment immediately, discuss some options such as setting up a repayment plan or direct them to a charity such as Step Change if they are going through financial difficulties.

3. Contact Your Tenant Formally By Letter

If a resolution has not been reached and the rent is unpaid after a few days or you do not hear back from the tenant, send a formal letter to request that the outstanding payment is made.

The letter should include the missed payment amount, date it was due and a request to make the payment within 14 days of the due date. Include a statement that you will need to take the matter further by serving an eviction notice if you do not receive the missed payment.

4. Follow Up With A Second Letter

If you do not receive the payment 14 days after the formal letter has been delivered, the next step is to send a further letter, again, explaining you will need to take legal action if you do not receive payment. You should either send the letter in first class post or hand deliver the letter.

Also contact the guarantor if there is one, advising them of the situation, as they will be legally obliged to make the payment if the tenant is not able to.

5. Contact Your Insurer (Or Deposit Protection Scheme)

By this point, you should be checking your options in regard to how you may be able to claim back your lost income. Your landlord insurance or rent guarantee scheme may cover unpaid rent, so contact the provider to check what is covered and what the process is for submitting a claim for rent arrears, court fees and legal costs. Ask the insurer about which documents you will need to provide to support your claim.

You will also be able to deduct unpaid rent from the deposit at the end of the tenancy if you are not covered by insurance, so contact the tenancy deposit scheme to find out how to do this.

6. Provide A Final Letter And Warning

After 21 days, if the missed payment has still not been paid, send a third letter to confirm that you are going to take legal action to seek possession of the property. If you are not sure what information to include in the letter, you can use a template to ensure you have included the correct details.

The final warning letter should include:

• The date of the notice
• Tenant’s name and address
• Landlord’s name and address
• Amount owed
• Due dates of the missed payments
• The terms for payments included in your tenancy agreement
• A statement outlining that you will start legal proceedings if the rent is not paid

7. Serve An Eviction Notice

If you get to this stage and have still not received the payment, the next step is to serve an eviction notice to start the eviction process. Following the abolition of section 21 evictions, the only legal route to take is to serve a section 8 eviction notice.

This can be served when terms of the tenancy have been breached and you should use Form 3A, citing a valid ground from Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988.

Choose the appropriate ground from the following:

• Ground 8 (mandatory): at least three months’ rent must be unpaid, both when the notice is served and on the day of the court hearing. Notice period: four weeks.
• Ground 10 (discretionary): any level of arrears; the court decides whether possession is reasonable. Notice period: four weeks.
• Ground 11 (discretionary): this can be used if the tenant is persistently falling into rent arrears. Notice period: four weeks.

Once the eviction notice has been served, the case will be reviewed by the court and a judge will determine the outcome. This could be ordering the tenant to pay a specified amount and/or leave the property on a specified date. The court may also order the tenant to cover the legal costs and court fees.

Landlords no longer have the option to apply for an accelerated possession procedure, as this was only available when serving a section 21 eviction notice. This means that it now typically takes several months from serving the notice to tenants to gaining possession of the property.

What Happens When You Serve a Section 8 Notice for Rent Arrears?

Once you have served a section 8 notice, the next steps will depend on which Ground has been used. The table below provides an overview of what happens for a mandatory Ground 8 or discretionary Ground 10:

Be aware that arrears that are due to a delay in Universal Credit or Housing Benefit payments cannot be counted towards the Ground 8 threshold if the tenant was entitled to receive it.

Private landlords must not personally remove a tenant, the only way to legally remove a tenant is to obtain a possession order from the court, which can be enforced by bailiffs if this is necessary.

Can Universal Credit or Housing Benefit Help Cover Rent Arrears?

Your tenant may be able to apply for rent arrears to be deducted from Universal Credit payments or they may be eligible for a discretionary housing payment from their local council to cover rent arrears. Landlords should discuss these options as early as possible with the tenant to make sure that they are aware of financial support that may be available to them. If financial support can be arranged, this could avoid the stress of the eviction process for both the landlord and the tenant.

How Long Does the Eviction Process Take in 2026?

Landlords are facing longer eviction processes following the abolition of section 21s and the added delays due to court backlogs. This is one of the reasons why many landlords have taken out protection such as rent guarantee schemes to minimise the financial impact of rent arrears.

The current timescales of a section 8 eviction are typically:

My tenant is not paying rent – next steps

Dealing with unpaid rent is a situation that no landlord wants to find themselves in, but it is possible to reduce the risk of this happening through comprehensive referencing and credit checks.

As an experienced estate agent covering areas including Queens Park and Cricklewood, we can help with finding reliable tenants or ensure the correct legal procedures are followed in the event that the tenant doesn’t pay their rent on time. Contact our team to find out more about how we can help.