Warrant of possession vs writ of possession

Updated August 2026 · Based on official gov.uk guidance · General information, not legal advice

Once the leaving date on a possession order has passed and the tenant is still there, you enforce it — and there are two routes. They reach the same end (a bailiff or enforcement officer removes the tenant) but by different courts, at different speeds and different costs.

The two routes side by side

	Warrant (county court)	Writ (High Court)
Issued by	County court	High Court
Enforced by	County court bailiff	High Court Enforcement Officer
Apply on	Form N325	Transfer first (permission), then a writ
Cost	£148	£123 to transfer + £80 to seal the writ + HCEO fees
Speed	Depends on the local bailiff queue	Generally faster once the writ is issued

The county court warrant, step by step

Take the warrant route and the mechanics are set out in Civil Procedure Rule 83.26. Three points catch landlords out.

Where it goes. The application is made to the County Court hearing centre that made the possession order, or the hearing centre the case was later transferred to — not your nearest court, and not wherever the property is. It can be made without notice to the tenant.

The certificate. Rule 83.26(4) requires you to file "a certificate that the land which is subject of the judgment or order has not been vacated". Miss it and the application comes back to you. If the possession order was suspended on terms that the tenant pay by instalments, rule 83.26(7) requires more: you must certify how much remains due and that all or part of an instalment is unpaid.

The tenant can move it. Under 83.26(3) a tenant who wants to oppose the warrant can ask the court to transfer the application to the hearing centre covering where they live. That is a legitimate step, not a delaying tactic to complain about, and it is worth expecting rather than being surprised by.

Both routes run out after twelve months. Whichever you choose, CPR 83.3(3) makes it valid for 12 months from issue, and 83.3(4) lets the court extend it for a further 12 months at a time. If enforcement stalls — a suspension hearing, a slow bailiff list — the answer is to ask for an extension, not to let it lapse and start over.

Worth settling before you pick a route: a claim that was defective upstream — unprotected deposit, wrong notice, a ground that does not hold — can unravel at the enforcement stage whichever court you use. Our free check flags those gaps. No sign-up, no email. Take the free check →

The High Court transfer, step by step

gov.uk sets it out: you can apply to transfer the case to the High Court for faster enforcement, but it costs more. You need permission from the county court, applied for on Form N244 unless permission has already been granted. With permission in hand you then use Form N293A, the combined certificate and request for the writ. That gets you a writ of possession instead of a warrant, allowing a High Court Enforcement Officer to carry out the eviction. It costs £123 to apply for the transfer and £80 to seal the writ, plus the enforcement officer's own fees.

The arithmetic that decides it. Work out your monthly loss — rent not coming in, plus arrears still building. If the county court is quoting ten weeks and the High Court saves you six of them, weigh six weeks of rent against a few hundred pounds of extra fees. On a £1,200/month tenancy that is an easy call. On a low-rent property with a tenant who has no money, it may not be.

The bit that quietly affects the tenant's credit file

Rule 83.26(6) says that where a warrant of possession is issued, you are entitled "by the same or a separate warrant, to execution against the debtor's goods for any money payable under the judgment or order". In other words, the same trip to court can chase the arrears as well as the property.

Understand what you are triggering before you tick that box. A warrant of possession on its own recovers the property and does nothing to the tenant's credit file. But going after their goods is a step to enforce the money — and that is precisely what lifts the registration exemption on a money judgment made in possession proceedings. Combine the two and the judgment becomes registrable and visible on credit searches for six years. That may be exactly what you want, or it may be a consequence you did not intend. We set out the mechanism in does a possession order affect credit.

Either way, the tenant gets warned. In both routes the court sends an eviction notice to you and the tenant at least 14 days before the appointment, and the tenant can apply to suspend the warrant or writ before the eviction date. If they do, there will be a hearing — attend it to protect your position.

Sources: gov.uk, Repossessing your privately rented property after 1 May 2026 (forms and fees); Civil Procedure Rules Part 83 — rule 83.26(2), (3), (4), (6) and (7) (where the application goes, the certificates, and execution against goods) and rule 83.3(3)–(4) (twelve-month validity and extension).

A row of English brick terraced houses at dusk

Find every gap in 2 minutes — free

Our free compliance check runs through your tenancy and flags everything the new law changed that you haven't caught up with. No sign-up, no email, and your answers are never stored.

Take the free compliance check →

More guides

The timeline after a possession order · You've got a possession order — what next · Does a possession order expire?