QUESTION > Dear Andy, I have a property in Warrington that I need to sell.

The tenants have been there a long time and have been good tenants.

How can I get possession of my property?

Can I do it without upsetting my tenants?

ANDY’S ANSWER > It can be a difficult process when it comes to selling your Warrington investment property, for numerous reasons.

Before you can think about serving your notice, you need to ensure that all your paperwork is in order – that all prescribed information has been given to the tenant, that you have the tenancy agreement, etc to hand and that the deposit has been dealt with correctly.

Getting it right at the start of the tenancy always makes it easier than having to start playing catch up later.

It is important to ensure the paperwork is in order to make sure that your notice is not held up in any way in the process.

Assuming that the tenancy is now on a periodic tenancy (a monthly rolling contract) then you can use the section 21 notice or form 6a (depending on when the tenancy started) to give two month’s notice to the tenants to end the tenancy.

If you decide to serve the notice yourself, I would recommend posting a copy by hand with a witness, to take photographs or video proof of postage through the door of the property.

Alternatively, you could post it from a post office, retaining proof of postage. It may be recommended to post from a couple of different post offices in this way to be sure of delivery.

If you are unsure, I would recommend instructing professionals to carry out the process for you.

Now that the legal bit is out of the way, I would recommend being very honest and upfront with your tenants.

Open and honest communication may ease their worries and also ease a move for them.

It also makes life a lot easier if they are co-operative when it comes to viewings with prospective buyers.

I hope all goes well in the sale of your Warrington property.