High Court Eviction in South Norwood: Room Repossessed and Possession Returned to the Landlord the Same Day

The Situation

A landlord in South Norwood, in the London Borough of Croydon, needed to recover possession of a single room within a shared residential flat. Possession had already been ordered by the court, and a High Court Writ of Possession had been issued authorising eviction, but the occupant remained in the room and the compliance period had passed. With the occupant showing no sign of leaving voluntarily, the landlord needed an enforcement team who could attend, take control of the room, and return the flat secure and vacant.

After searching for a High Court enforcement agent to enforce the Writ of Possession, the landlord’s matter was taken forward by Strikes High Court Enforcement under the authority of our Authorised High Court Enforcement Officer. The Notice of Eviction had already been served in person two weeks earlier, giving the occupant clear and proper notice of the date.

Our Approach

Our enforcement officer attended the property shortly before 10:00am on the morning of the eviction, meeting the landlord’s appointed locksmith on site. After a brief safety discussion, the team made their way to the top-floor flat and, at 10:00am, attended the room to take possession. The occupant was present and, once woken, was startled and became confrontational, stating he was unaware the eviction was taking place that day despite having been personally served two weeks before. Our officer handed him a copy of the Notice of Possession and advised him to approach the local council to arrange temporary accommodation.

The occupant asked for additional time to gather his belongings, which our officer allowed. On instruction from the landlord, all belongings were to be removed the same day rather than left for a later supervised collection, and the landlord confirmed they would cover any additional time this required. When the occupant made no real progress and became agitated — shouting and slamming the door — our officer withdrew the team from the flat to let the situation settle rather than allow it to escalate.

As a precaution, our officer contacted the Metropolitan Police to log the occupant’s behaviour. When the occupant’s mother and her partner arrived and proved cooperative, our officer judged that their presence would help calm the situation and stood the police request down. Our officer escorted the mother in to speak with her son, waited outside, and managed the removal from there — reiterating clearly that any further escalation would mean police involvement. With that framework in place, the occupant’s family removed all of his belongings from the property.

Throughout, the priority was a controlled, lawful eviction: proper notice, a measured response to an uncooperative occupant, de-escalation rather than confrontation, and the property left fully secure. Once the room was clear, the locksmith secured both the room and the main flat door on the landlord’s instruction.

Outcome

With the room vacant, our officer photographed the property, placed a Notice of Possession on the room and a further notice on the main door of the flat, and left the keys in the location specified by the landlord, with a spare secured in the designated key safe. The premises were left secure and vacant, and possession was returned to the landlord by early afternoon — the entire operation completed in a single attendance.

The eviction was carried out by Andrew McDermott (Authorised High Court Enforcement Officer), with the matter overseen by Chris Bane (Founder and Managing Director), ensuring a difficult, potentially volatile eviction was resolved lawfully, safely, and in full on the first visit.