Section 21 Bill Date or Not?

[DiscoDave]

We've been issued a section 21 this week for 30/03 (just over 2 months) however our rental date is the 13th of the month. When I queried this the agent, who is usually stright and good about these things, said that law has changed and it's JUST 2 months needed (no longer on Bill Date). We are on an SPT with the original AST from late 2015

Could anyone confirm either way for me as looking on the government websites says I am right but I know this can easily be out of date

[Locke]

 

From:https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/section_21_eviction/how_to_check_a_section_21_notice_is_valid

Quote

landlords in England cannot use a Section 21 notice if they have not provided the tenants copies of the property’s Energy Performance Certificate, a gas safety certificate and a ‘How to Rent’ guide 

Quote

 

A section 21 notice is invalid if either:

• your deposit is not protected in a scheme
• it was protected more than 30 days after your most recent contract started

If your landlord breaks these rules, they can only serve a valid section 21 notice if they return your deposit first.

So check the certs and deposit were done properly.

Did they issue you with form 6A?

 

However, I believe they can kick you out before the tenancy period, although they have to refund the days remaining in the period.

From: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/824957/Form_6A_INTERACTIVE__1_.pdf

Quote

Where your tenancy is terminated before the end of a period of your tenancy (e.g. where you pay rent in advance on the first of each month and you are required to give up possession in the middle of the month), you may be entitled to repayment of rent from the landlord under section 21C of the Housing Act 1988.

 

[lastlaugh]

The S21 date no longer has to coincide with the rent payment date, it only has to be 2 months notice.

However, a common misconception amongst renters is that the S21 date is the date you must leave.  Not true.  You can leave earlier or later.  Both options have implications, however.  The only significance of the S21 date is that it is the earliest date that a landlord can commence eviction proceedings against you.

So, the best way to view a S21 notice is as a starting gun for a negotiation process to end your tenancy.  Clearly, as a tenant your relationship with your landlord is coming to an end and you need to find a new home.  Just as clearly, your landlord wants you to leave without a fight and without all the hassle of an eviction.  Somewhere in the middle is common ground where both parties are happy.

What muddies the waters sometimes is when landlords and agents use the S21 trick as a means to apply pressure on tenants to accept a rental increase.  It’s a cruel and stupid trick.  I once won considerable compensation from the Ombudsman and ended the career of a Lettings Manager in London who tried to pull this stunt.   But that’s another story.

The other annoying aspect is that LLs and LAs see the S21 date as the date you must leave, make plans around it, and will harass you if you believe otherwise.

**Remember fellow Renters, there is only one date that you MUST leave your home, and that is the date set by a judge in an eviction notice.  Everything else is open to negotiation.**

So what is the best way to deal with the situation in the OP?  S21 date is the 13th, but rent payment date is the 30th?  Well this is quite a good position for a tenant because the landlord expects you to do two conflicting things.  You are contractually required to pay a full months rent on the 30th, but your landlord requires you to leave on the 13th without saying how he plans to account for the service you have paid for but he plans to not provide.  This gives you room to manoeuvre.

Firstly, don’t respond to the S21.  Don’t contact your LA or LL.  Don’t acknowledge or return calls or emails.   Nothing.  Zip.  Nada.  It buys you time.  Because, first you need to check out out other accommodation options.  Usually, it would help to have a little bit longer in your current accommodation, but sometimes it helps to move fast.  If you can, and want to, move fast, then great, give them one months notice, leave, and enjoy the rest of your life.

Usually the process of finding a new suitable place, arranging contracts etc, and a new move in date, takes a little time, so in all likelihood you might need a little extra time in your old place.  When you have a plan worked out then, and only then, acknowledge the S21 and INFORM the LA or LL in writing of your moving out date.  If this is a week or two after your S21 date, then there is nothing they can do about it.  They might huff and puff.  But bad luck!

The only possible downside is the LL or LA might try and claim costs against you for staying beyond your S21 date.  But it’s difficult to prove and is not covered by your deposit.  Also, if you have formally given sufficient notice of your leaving date, AND paid rent, then there is no reason they should have incurred any costs anyway.  

The bottom line is this.  If a LA really is stupid enough to give a S21 date different to the rent date, then they will look even more foolish if they try and claim costs from you because you stayed until the end of the period for which they have asked you to pay.

Anyway, good luck with it all.  The end of a tenacy is always much more stressful than the start.

 

[spacedin]

On 04/02/2020 at 14:24, lastlaugh said:

The S21 date no longer has to coincide with the rent payment date, it only has to be 2 months notice.

 

 

Says who? Sorry I'm unaware of any change in the law in regards to this.

[spacedin]

On 29/01/2020 at 11:11, Locke said:

 

From:https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/section_21_eviction/how_to_check_a_section_21_notice_is_valid

So check the certs and deposit were done properly.

Did they issue you with form 6A?

 

However, I believe they can kick you out before the tenancy period, although they have to refund the days remaining in the period.

From: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/824957/Form_6A_INTERACTIVE__1_.pdf

 

It's interesting the wording of Section 21C of the Housing Act, as it talks of the court making an order for repayment of this rent, actually in the process of the court making an order of possession. It just seems a bit odd for a tenant to end up in court over a possession order if they've left within the two month notice period. 

[spacedin]

I see sorry, so it changed in 2015 when the Deregulation Act became law:

 

(d)section 10 (taxis and private hire vehicles: duration of licences);

(e)section 11 (private hire vehicles: sub-contracting);

(f)section 12 (space activity: limit on indemnity required);

(g)section 33 (preventing retaliatory eviction in relation to assured shorthold tenancies);

(h)section 34 (further exemptions to section 33);

(i)section 35 (notice to be provided in relation to periodic assured shorthold tenancies);

(j)section 36 (time limits in relation to section 21 notices and proceedings);

(k)section 38 (compliance with prescribed legal requirements), so far as not already in force(1);

(l)section 39 (requirement for landlord to provide prescribed information), so far as not already in force(2);

(m)section 40 (repayment of rent where tenancy ends before end of a period);

(n)section 41(application of sections 33 to 40);

(o)section 49 (removal of restrictions on provision of passenger rail services) and Schedule 8 (provision of passenger rail services), so far as not already in force(3);

(p)Section 51(g) (reduction of burdens relating to the use of roads and railways) and Part 7 of Schedule 10 (rail vehicle accessibility regulations: exemption orders).

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/994/article/11/made#article-11-m

It's a shame ending 'no-fault evictions' was not on the agenda at the time. Scotland had outlawed them by then I believe. 

Edited February 8, 2020 by spacedin