Users' questions

What is a Section 21 Notice housing?

What is a Section 21 Notice housing?

If you get a section 21 notice, it’s the first step your landlord has to take to make you leave your home. You won’t have to leave your home straight away. If your section 21 notice is valid, your landlord will need to go to court to evict you. You might be able to challenge your eviction and stay longer in your home.

When can a section 21 notice be served?

When can I serve a Section 21 Notice? Serving a Section 21 Notice can happen at any time after the start of the tenancy, but notice cannot end earlier than the end of the fixed term – and landlords must give a tenant a minimum of 2 months’ notice, in writing.

What must a section 21 notice contain?

The notice gives you two months to leave, before the landlord seeks possession of the property. Section 21 can be served without a particular reason. Section 21 must give you two months of time since the date being served to you. It must be in writting and clear a number of requirements to be valid.

How much notice must a landlord give to serve a section 21?

A Section 21 notice must be served before possession order will be issued by a court. Possession under this section of the Housing Act 1988 cannot take place during the fixed term of the tenancy, but the notice can be served at any time during the fixed term provided the tenant is given a minimum of two months’ notice.

Can I write my own section 21 notice?

Giving Tenants the Section 21 Notice Otherwise, you can write your own Section 21 notice. If it’s a periodic tenancy, you must explain that you’re giving notice under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.

Is a section 21 an eviction notice?

A section 21 notice gets its name from the section of the Act of Parliament that created it. You may also hear it called an ‘eviction notice’, a ‘notice to quit’ or a ‘notice seeking possession’. Using a section 21 notice means a landlord doesn’t have to give any reason for asking you to leave.

What is a Section 21 no fault eviction?

Section 21 enables private landlords to repossess their properties from assured shorthold tenants (ASTs) without having to establish fault on the part of the tenant. Hence it is sometimes referred to as the ‘no-fault’ ground for eviction.

Can I serve section 21 without EPC?

Extra requirements were introduced whereby a section 21 notice (two months no fault notice) could not be served unless an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), gas safety check certificate and the government’s How to Rent Guide had been served on the tenant.

Does a section 21 notice end a tenancy?

You may have been the perfect tenant and paid your rent on time but section 21 allows your landlord to evict you without having to give a reason. Getting a section 21 notice doesn’t end your tenancy. Your tenancy carries on until you leave voluntarily or you are evicted by the court.

Has Section 21 notice been abolished?

On 15 April 2019, the then-Government announced: “Private landlords will no longer be able to evict tenants from their homes at short notice and without good reason.” This was followed by a consultation process which ran between July and October 2019.

How do you serve section 21 correctly?

How to serve a Section 21 notice

  1. Each tenant must be named on the notice individually and in full as on the tenancy agreement.
  2. Complete whichever notice is appropriate.
  3. If there are multiple landlords, any one of them can serve notice.
  4. Photocopy the notice, once for each tenant and once for you.

How long does it take to evict a tenant under section 21?

This date is usually 2 to 6 weeks after the court makes the order. The date for possession is not the same as an eviction date. Your landlord can ask bailiffs to evict if you don’t leave by the date for possession.

How does Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 work?

Section 21 of the housing Act 1988 provides a Landlord with a legal right to obtain possession of his property from the Tenant at the end of the Tenancy. This legal route may only be used for an Assured Shorthold tenancy and not for an Assured tenancy. The Landlord’s claim for possession involves serving Notice of his intention to seek possession.

Can a landlord serve a section 21 notice on a tenant?

A landlord can serve Section 21 notice in prescribed form to end an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) without proving any ground for possession. To regain possession of a property let under an AST without having a specific reason or ground for possession (such as rent arrears), a landlord must first serve a valid section 21 notice on the tenant.

When do Section 21 notices need to be commenced?

For a section 21 notice to remain valid, possession proceedings must be commenced within: six months of its service on the tenant, or four months of the expiry date of the section 21 notices for periodic ASTs where the period of the tenancy is greater than two months, for example, a quarterly periodic tenancy

Can you get a section 21 notice if you dont have a shorthold?

You can only get a section 21 notice if you have an assured shorthold tenancy. If you’re not sure what type of tenancy you have, use Shelter’s tenancy checker to find out. If your landlord gives you a section 21 notice and you don’t have an assured shorthold tenancy, your notice won’t be valid.