Section 21 Notice
Have you received a Section 21 notice? Are you unsure of your tenant rights and options? Our Section 21 Notice Solicitors can help you.
In this blog, Nollienne Alparaque, head of our team of Landlord and Tenant Solicitors, explains the validity and requirements of a Section 21 notice.
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For landlord and tenant legal advice call the experts at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or complete our online enquiry form.
Section 21 notice of seeking possession
You can be sent a Section 21 notice to evict when you rent and:
- Your fixed-term tenancy has ended or
- You rent on a periodic tenancy with no fixed end date
When you receive a Section 21 ‘no-fault eviction notice’ you may assume that the landlord is entitled to send it and that the notice is valid. Our Landlord and Tenant Solicitors advise that landlords don’t always have the right to send you a Section 21 notice. It is worth taking legal advice on whether the notice you have received is valid and meets the legal requirements. If it isn’t your landlord may not be able to evict you unless they have grounds to send a Section 8 notice. They can only get possession using a Section 8 notice if you are in breach of your tenancy agreement. For example, if you are in rent arrears.
A landlord cannot legally send you a Section 21 notice if:
- It is less than four months since the tenancy began or if your fixed term tenancy has not ended (unless the tenancy agreement says that the landlord can send a Section 21 notice and end the fixed term tenancy early)
- You are renting part of a house in multiple occupation and the property does not have an HMO licence from the local authority. You may not realise you are renting in an HMO so it is worth checking this out if you rent with others
- The landlord has not protected your deposit by putting it into a recognised tenancy deposit protection scheme (provided the tenancy started after April 2007)
- The local authority served an improvement notice on the property or served a notice saying it will do emergency work. The notice must have been sent in the last 6 months
- The landlord has not repaid any unlawful fees or deposits they charged you
A landlord cannot use the Section 21 notice procedure where they have not given you:
- A copy of the government produced how to rent guide before you moved into the property
- The gas safety certificate before you moved into the property
- An energy performance certificate for the property – this must have been given to you before you moved in
- A current gas safety certificate if you have been renting for a while and another one is due
Our Landlord and Tenant Solicitors recommend that you check the paperwork you were given when you moved into the property and have that and your tenancy agreement available for when you speak to a Tenant Eviction Solicitor.
The validity of a Section 21 notice
A Section 21 notice is only valid if the landlord uses the correct form. If they do not do so then they cannot proceed with possession as they haven’t served a valid Section 21 notice. Until the law is changed on Section 21 notices, the landlord could send you another notice on the prescribed form but challenging the validity of the notice buys you some time and may make the landlord rethink their eviction plans.
The length of a Section 21 notice
A Section 21 notice must give you at least two months’ notice to leave your rented property. The notice period may be longer if you rent on a contractual periodic tenancy.
You may not know what type of tenancy agreement you have as a contractual periodic tenancy is created if you continue to rent a property after your fixed-term tenancy ends and your original tenancy agreement said if you did this then the tenancy would convert to a contractual periodic tenancy.
Even if you cannot challenge the validity of the Section 21 notice our Landlord and Tenant Solicitors may be able to challenge the length of the notice to give you more time to find somewhere else to rent.
A letter before action
Sometimes a letter before action from a Landlord and Tenant Solicitor will stop a Section 21 notice where a landlord realises that their notice is not valid or that they have not used the prescribed form. Standing up for your rights as a tenant may delay or even stop the landlord’s plans to gain possession and evict you from your home.
Our team of specialist lawyers can also help you with:
- Opposing Section 21 possession proceedings where the notice served was not valid
- Applying for an injunction order to stop landlord harassment or to prevent an illegal eviction
- Sorting out the return of your deposit at the end of the tenancy agreement if there is a deposit dispute
- Sorting out the return of your belongings if your landlord removed them from the rental property or seeking compensation if your landlord has destroyed your belongings
- Advising you on your rights to damages if your landlord evicts you illegally
Online and London Landlord and Tenant Solicitors
For landlord and tenant legal advice call the experts at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or complete our online enquiry form.
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