Abandoned property

It is quite common for tenants to simply abandon a rented property. In theory the landlord could simply take possession of the property and relet. However if the property had not actually been abandoned then the tenant could later claim that the landlord had illegally evicted them and claim against the landlord for this and the cost of any belongings they had left in the property.

Theoretically the landlord should follow the standard possession process to regain possession. However in practice landlords are often not prepared to leave the property empty and not earning rent for the duration of the possession process and choose to simply clear and relet the property as soon as they are confident that the tenant really has left.