He ran up rent arrears and the council decided to end the tenancy. To do so, it had to start possession proceedings within one year of the day the tenancy began. Papers were lodged at the court on 7 November 2002 but not issued by the court office until 11 November. The district judge dismissed the claim as issued too late. The local county court judge allowed the council's appeal but Garner appealed to the Court of Appeal, which decided that the tenancy had begun on 9 November 2001 when Garner first became entitled to occupy.
Although the claim had been lodged with the court just before the first anniversary of that date, the important date for the purposes of the one-year trial for an introductory tenant was the date the possession claim was issued. It followed that a year had expired and Garner was a secure tenant.
Source
Housing Today
Reference
Two clear points on management of introductory tenancies emerge: the need to record precisely the first date on which the tenant had been allowed to occupy and the need to file court proceedings sufficiently ahead of the first anniversary to allow about a week before they are issued.
