Your tenants also have human rights!

The Human Rights Act 1998 came into force on 2nd October 2000. The Act will now be incorporated into all aspects of UK domestic law. This will include the legal relationship between landlord and tenant.

Landlords of commercial property have always known that if one of their tenants does not pay the rent, they have the right to instruct bailiffs to distrain on goods belonging to the tenant. They also have the right to instruct bailiffs to take peaceable possession of the property by changing the locks and bringing the lease to an end. This procedure does not require any judgment or other court applications. This may be the problem.

The Human Rights Act gives everyone a right to a hearing before being deprived of his goods and a landlord may well find that the rights to take this type of action without legal process may breach Articles 6 and 8 of the Act.