Applying to court for possession

Last updated 8 April 2024 - Court fees increasing in May

Introduction

Once your notice period has finished, if the contract-holders remain in the property, your next step will be to apply to court for a possession order. 

Depending on the type of notice served, you may apply for a possession order under the accelerated procedure, by filing a request for a hearing using the correct forms, or by applying online using Possession Claim Online.

To help with this, the NRLA has produced some guidance on applying for a possession order.

Warning

At the time of writing, not all of the available routes to court are working in Wales. This makes it more difficult to apply to court. Similarly, a number of the prescribed forms have potentially misleading explanatory information included on them.

With that in mind, while we have produced this guidance we would strongly recommend you employ a solicitor or an eviction specialist. Especially if you are seeking possession on a contract that began before 1st December 2022.

Court fees set to increase from 8 April 2025

The Government is set to increase court fees in line with CPI, with the majority of the fees changing by around 3.2%.

The expectation was that these changes would take effect on 1 April 2025, however, in the end the prices will now increase on the 8 April 2025.

For possession claims this means that fees will increase to -

• £404 for making a possession claim (was £391)
• £148 for applying for a warrant of possession (was £143)
• £313 for a general application on notice (N244) (was £303)
• £119 for a general application by consent/without notice (N244) (was £119)