New eviction rules

One of the ways that a landlord can take back possession of a rental property is by issuing them with a Section 21 notice. The landlord doesn’t have to give a reason for claiming back possession but must provide the tenant with at least two months’ notice.

The Deregulation Act 2015 changed the way that a Section 21 notice can be used to bring some tenancies to an end, though this was limited to tenancies agreed on or after 1 October 2015.

However, from 1st October 2018, this is being extended to all tenancies.

So what’s changing? For starters, a Section 21 notice cannot be issued during the first four months of a tenancy (though this doesn’t apply if a tenancy has been renewed).

In addition, the notice is only valid for six months from the date on which it was issued. If you don’t follow up with possession proceedings within that six month period, you’ll have to issue another Section 21 notice.

The big change though is over ‘revenge evictions’.

Essentially, if a tenant makes a legitimate complaint about something to do with a property, such as repairs that are needed, and they aren’t dealt with then the tenant can take the issue to the local housing authority.

If the council then issues an improvement notice or emergency work notice ordering the improvements to be carried out, then you will need to act on that before issuing a Section 21 notice. Otherwise, your notice will be invalid.