How To Fill In A Section 21 Notice (Guide For Landlords)

if rent date is 14th of the month do I put the 13th of the month as expires after date on section 214a?I am so confused its been a nightmare.

Need some advice people

The ast i issued had "tenancy beggining on 4- 8-13"
However the agreement was signed on 18--8-13 as i was away.

How do i serve a valid notice an which date do i go by, itspossible i will need to get court order.

Hello, I need some advice. My tenants tenancy agreements ends 18 December 2013. I am going to serve section 21 now i.e. 11th November 2013 so my tenant leaves 18th January 2014. Which section 21 do I use?

can anyone tell me what a section 21 4 a means please

Lyndsay, a section 21(4)(a) is used once the agreement has become periodic.
This is what im confused about, which one to use for the last month of tenancy in a fixed 6months agreement?HELP

Have issued a section 21 to my tenants, there AST started on the 5th of june for 6 months...I issued a section 21 on the 1/10/13 ....can anyone let me know what date the expiry should be on the section 21 form as my local council have told me that the date I have put is incorrect and if I go to court they will throw it out....thanks for any info....

Stuart its advisable get a specialist in this area to issue a s21 notice, it doesnt have to be a solicitor, it can be a agent who does this type of work daily it should cost you no more than £50-60 for this notice.

Atleast the council have been helpful in alerting you to your invalid notice they could have gone to court knowing your case will be thrown out by the judge.

That would mean you have to start with a new s21 with new 2 month notice.

Remember a minor mistake in the dates on any your paperwork will go against you.

You can search for specialist eviction services who will charge you less than a solicitor for same work.

Hello, I need some advice. My tenant moved in on the 4/4/2013 using a shorthold tenancy agreement. Rent due weekly (Thursday) after 6 months in the property and need to evict. A section 21 has been sent but to be sure it is correct, what date should I have put on the section 21? Hope this makes sense!

I bought a large house that operates as an HMO that I wish to return normal use ( I want to live there) my managing agent issued all tenants with section 21 notice to quit, with 2 months notice. Some have left already but today one handed me a letter telling me he's taken legal advice and he has rights etc. this caused me to investigate sec 21 notices and has led me to believe that my agent may have made an error. The tenant's AST was signed on 18/07/11 and he pays rent weekly. His notice is for him to vacate on 29/01/14, two months after he was served with the notice. From what I understand his day to quit should have been 17/2/14. Can anyone confirm this for me? My agent insists his sec 21 is correct.
None of the AST's are signed by me, but rather the previous owner and the managing agent.

Is this the correct section 21 (1) (b)? How do I fill in 4 and 5?

HOUSING ACT 1998
Section 21(1) (b)

ASSURED SHORTHOLD TENANCY: NOTICE REQUIRING POSSESSION:
FIXED TERM TENANCY
(Notes)

(1) Name and address of tenant(s):

(2) Name and address of landlord:

(3) Address of dwelling:

I give you notice that I require possession of the dwelling house known as (3)

(4) Date of expiry: After:

(5) Dated ON:

(6) Name and Address
Landlord/ Agent’s
?

Notes:
1. On or after the coming to an end of a fixed term assured shorthold tenancy, a court must make an order for possession if the landlord has give a notice in this form.
2. Where there are joint landlords, at least one of them must give this notice.
3. The length of the notice must be at least two months, and the notice must be given before or on the day which the fixed term comes to an end.

Received and acknowledged:

Tenants……………………………………………………………………………….

Date……………………………………………..

Hey there,
I'm trying to fill out my first section 21. My tenant moved in with a AST of 6 months on 14th March 2012 (date also on tenancy agreement) I intend to issue the 21 notice on Friday 4th so what date do I put for expiry of the 21 notice?
Please help me with this complicated question. Thanks

Hi. My friend and I set up a small Charity that leases houses from Landlords. We house Vulnerable Adults in the Community.

Unfortunately not all tenancies work out (as you can imagine) however we have been fortunate most of the time.

We now need to evict someone who has been told to stay put by the Council and other local housing providers.

Our tenancies are assured short hold periodic.

I have found this site extremely helpfully and have learnt a lot.

Many thanks.

I will be serving notice on my tenants under the section 21 (periodic), both tenants are out of fixed term of AST.

They're pay date is 1st of every month, I want to serve on 1st June for
Them to vacate property on 31st of July, is this correct? Full two months notice?

Please advise as I want to get it right.

Hi everyone,

I have a question, I accidently protected my tenants deposit after the 30 days. I have protected it now and sent all the info to them. They have 3 months left on their fixed term and I would like to evict them in about 4 months. They haven't done anything wrong I just want to move back in to the property. Am I allowed to serve a section 21 notice in this scenario?

Many thanks

Emily

Thanks for this helpful advice. This post is very timely, just when I need it. Good thing I've come across this site while working on my periodic tenancy form. I just thought to share this website I've visited prior to your blog, I find it very helpful, especially for people like us. Here's the link http://goo.gl/0o1M1z, check it out.

I am a landlord. I issued a 21 1 b for ending a fixed term AST. The start date of the agreement was 30th March 2014 for 6 month AST and I issued the notice on the 28th June 2014 which is more than 2 months. However I put the end date on the notice as the 30th September 2014 and I now realise that the lease end date was 29th September. Will this be thrown out because I got the end date one day too many? I need to know this before I put in for accelerated posession. RICK

@Richard Jojo --- yes I think so.

As in original examples above at least 2 months doesnt mean you have to give exactly 2 months so why cut it so fine ?

I would always talk to the Ts as well before sending it.
when it arrives out of the blue it is a kick in the teeth and an appropriate phone call can sugar coat it and reassure Ts.

Tenancy ended on the 31-oct-14 and I am serving S21 on the 10-Nov-14 can the expiry date be anytime after the 11th-Jan-15?

thanks in advance.

J.

I served a section21 on the 15 sep 2014 and ended it 20 nov it has gone in a periodic tenancy but im not sure if this will be alright with the court does any one know

URGENT Please help!! i need possession of my property ON 31/1/15 12months into 24 month lease. The tenant had agreed with my ex (who'sjoint landlord) they would pay 2yrs rent upfront for a reduced monthly rent so lease was drawn up for 24months. I was unsure of the tax implications so said we would do the tenancy as standard & i'd ck with taxman before receiving any lump sums. However after moving in she went back on her word meaning the incomplete building eork on our family home could not be completed and ex unable to rent room rto help pay lge mortgage when we split up. There is a 'break clause in the lease but not sure if would stand up in court)as it's not at the end of the fixed term 24months what notice can i use? Please reply asap as i need to serve notice by 31st november & Family home is on verge of repossession by the bank. Many thanks !! :@

Hi, have a periodic tenancy, the initial contract was signed 16th January 2014 for 6months, the council pays the rent every 4 weeks, so it does not coincide with the 16th of each month but reduces a day or so every month, would I date my s21 15th of March 2015 to give 2months notice? Would be grateful for a prompt reply need to get it in the next day or two. Also a slight complication, it is my niece's property, I handle any issues, problems, deal with the tenants, etc, but do not get paid anything, would I sign the form as an agent on her behalf or ask her to sign it?

Thanks for your assisstance, basically it doesn't matter what dates the council make payments, the contract was signed on the 16th January 2014 and since it is now a periodic tenancy I would need to give at least 2months notice expiring on the 15th of March?
They was no deposit taken.
The council pay the rent every 4 weeks and not in calendar months.

I wish I saw this blog last year...I had a 52 week agreement with my tenant. Served them with a section 21 b on the 27th June 2014. the rent paid is calculated weekly! Paid every four weeks!
So I gave them two months / 8 weeks plus a few days taking the day of notice to 26th August 2014. They didn't move in fact they were told by the council to stay until I got a possession order from court.
I paid £280 to submit papers to court on 1st Sep 2014. Early November asked to re-fill a section of the form...did that, sent it back. End of November my case was dismissed due insufficient time on notice given. I wrote the court asking them to explain. They wrote back saying if I wished the court to address my letter I would need to complete another form and pay £155 to process it. I did this... A hearing date was set. The Judge said I had a point regarding how I worked out the notice time BUT it must be TWO CALENDAR Months. I should have written 27th Aug on the section 21 and he dismissed my case.
I am just about to serve a Section 21 (4) (a). Giving the tenant effectively three months notice...2nd Feb 2015 - 1st May 2015.
Landlords be aware of those dates and extra time if you want to keep said tenants.

Christ almighty people, have some f***ing empathy.

Yes, it's legal to give 2 months notice, but have you considered how incredibly difficult it is to find a new place, pack up your life, save the for the deposit and the myriad other things one needs to do to move house, the most stressful time in your life?

First of all, ring them, talk to them, explain the situation and give them plenty of notice. Then when you issue the Section 21 with hopefully plenty more than 2 months notice, you'll get much happier tenants leaving your place and people that are a hell of a lot less likely to hold you to court.

If a section 21/4 notice is served

a) by putting it through the letterbox and not getting an acknowledgement and
b) with the 'dwelling known as' section omitted/left blank.

Is it invalid?

Thank you

Hi,
We received the notice s21 from the agency delivered through the letter box, with the statement on the envelope 'hand delivered' (however we did not signed any delivery to our hand). It was delivered on 30th of March, and the date to leave on the notice is 30th of May.

My flatmate was at home (she finishes work at 4 pm so usually is home just before 5pm). And she actually heard the letters being popped in around 5 pm.

I found out that 4.30 pm is the latest time for the documents to be delivered to be accepted for the same day.

Will the court accept that letter as delivered on 30th of March without our signature? If they have a witness (they can literally produce anyone to state they delivered it even in the morning) can our statement that it was delivered later be valid?
Does court need a proof with our signature about the delivery to check the dates?

Sometimes I wish law was simple :(

Thank you in advance

Hi
I have a tenant whose tenancy ran out on 31st March. Due to my own carelessness I didn't realise. He now owes over £600 in rent arrears. I have told him to leave but he shows no sign of doing so. If I now issue a section 21 notice do I have to date it from now or can I back date it to when the tenancy agreement ran out? Also any ideas on how I get my rent? Take him to court?

Hi everyone,

Please can someone try to answer these 2 questions - I can;t find the answer anywhere online!

1. If I serve a Section 21 notice (as opposed to a simple letter asking my tenants to move out with 2 months notice), does this forfeit my right to reclaim the 3 months unpaid rent? I read somewhere that it does, but can anyone clarify that?

2. I want to get the tenants out exactly 2 months after their tenancy agreement ends. But to avoid any possible misinterpretation by the courts I need to send the notice now, before their tenancy agreement ends. Which Section 21 should I use?

Thanks!

In answer to other people's questions, as far as I understand it...

John Saunders - you can only use the 'actual' date on your S21, you cannot backdate it. Make sure the 'expiry date' is minimum 2 months later, & the last day of a rental period (ie the day before the rent is normally due). See comments above for details.

Kash - 30th March to 30th May is not 2 months (it is just under), and reading the comments above it will therefore be thrown our of court. The notice period needs to be a minimum of 2 months. Even 20/6 - 19/8 doesn't appear to be enough, as it is cutting it too fine & the judge can dismiss the case by an error of 1 day.

Dave - you will need an acknowledgment or proof of posting, otherwise how will you prove the tenant received it? Don't leave any sections blank - why risk it!

Owen - I hear ya. But you try dealing with tenants who live in your property rent-free & refuse to pay for months, and don't make any effort to contact you or suggest a repayment schedule. How much empathy should one have before they go bankrupt themselves!?

After much research I believe I have answered my own questions. I will post them here in case they are helpful to anyone else.

Q - How do I get my rude, obnoxious, non-paying tenants out of the property asap? If I serve a Section 21 notice, does this forfeit my right to reclaim the unpaid rent so far?

A - The only way you forfeit reclaiming the unpaid rent with the S21 is if you use the 'accelerated' service. The normal S21 allows you to reclaim overdue rent, but the problem with the S21 is that you need to give a minimum of 2 months' notice, which is not ideal if the tenant is continually refusing to pay their rent. If you are sure your tenant has no legal right to counter your claim (ie they cannot claim the property is in a bad state of disrepair / that they had no hot water / heating for months on end etc), it might be better to serve a Section 8, which, depending on the Grounds you have, allows you to serve notice of just 2 weeks! The 'Grounds' are explained v clearly on Wikipedia - non-payment of rent is 'Grounds 8, 10, & 11'. If the tenant submits a counter-claim the case could get expensive, but the way I look at it (I could be wrong), if I am going to need to take them to Court anyway regarding the overdue rent (which is looking more & more likely), I may as well serve Section 8, and resolve the entire matter in one court hearing.

Glen,

Consider using section 21 for possession and a separate MCOL for the arrears.

Hi section 21 to give on 11/6/15 wot date do I put for 2 months notice ?

Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement for 6 month and after its automatically change for periodically tenancy. I got the Section 21(1)(a). I am little bit confuse and wants to know is this correct Notice? if not when will apply for Section 21(1)(a). My court date is very near, please reply me on my email id mass2010@hotmail.co.uk
May Thanks

I have a tenant who moved in on 29.08.11 on 6 month ast, which is now a periodic tenancy. She pays the rent fortnightly on a Monday, I didn't take a deposit from her. She needs a bigger house and asked if I would give her a section 21a notice to take to the local council, They had said she would be put on a higher priority band due to a disabled child who needs his own room. she has made an appointment to go in this week with copy of notice and tenancy agreement etc, when she made the appointment it was a different advisor who said the section 21a notice will probably be filled in incorrectly, They will try to find a mistake on it so as this tenant doesn't have to move out, has anyone any idea what I should do? the form is filled in as follows-
tenants name......
landlord address..............
property address..............
date of expiry of notice 30th August 2015
date notice served 28th June 2015
landlord signature......................

she will give me the form back to alter it if indeed I have filled it in wrong
thanks in advance for any advice,

Hi have just heard a landlord can not evict a tenant if there is no current gas check or ecp, is this correct?

hi my step daughter has been told that she has served her s21 but has not even seen one or heard about one can she still be evicted ? Also her deposit was not paid into a tenants deposit scheme. I have read elsewhere that because of this the s21 is null and void and she has never had a signed tenancy agreement. How does she stand legally. This is fair urgent any replies would be most helpful

Please could you tell me if i need to get a signature off a tenant to say they have received a section 21 notice ?

@Tracey,

No, although it would be nice!
Recorded delivery, if signed for by the tenant is good but far from infallible.
Proof of posting from two different post offices is better.
Or served by hand with an independent witness.

As you are asking the question, presumably you think there may be a problem, so do them all.

My tenant's AST has now ended and has become a periodic tenancy. I have properly served Sec 21, with over 2 months to expiry, as I want to take back the property, however, he has now served Notice To Quit giving 1 months notice. Because I have served Sec 21 with 2 months notice, does that override his ability to give 1 months notice? Can I legally require him to stay or pay for the final month? A hefty deposit is held in TDS.

Hi I had an assured shorthold tenancy agreement on the 10th Feb 2005 when my ex-partner moved out I signed a new 1 year tenancy agreement on the 10th Jan 2008 which has now lapsed into a periodic assured tendency. My landlord wants to sell and gave me written notice on the 11th May 2015 asking me to leave by the 12 July 2015 "Due to financial circumstances it is with regret that we must give you notice to leave (my address) by 12th July 2015, as we wish to sell the property." I asked them to give me more time but on the 22nd they sent me a claim form for possession (accelerated procedure). I have looked for advice but getting mixed messages.
Q1. Is my notice legally binding?
I am questioning the wording
I am questioning the dates
If it is wrong should I contact my landlord and tell him the form is wrong or just put the information on the defence form? What would be the difference?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thank you

just had a s21 struck out at hearing
ast agreement was signed by 2 different landlords

also would like comments on this scenario

friend sold his house to her friend as a sale and rent back agreement mortgage attached to title deeds as halifax but on questioning halifax about permission for landlord to let property they informed her that there was actually no mortgage on that property in question on their system

think he may have sold it to someone illegally

Hi
We need to send a section 21 to tenants who haven't paid since October 2015.
We know it has to be a periodic as tenancy ended in Jan 2916.
Our problem is that initially there were 3 of them all friends of ours. We later found out it should of been a Hmo, to cut a long story short one of the tenants told us he was leaving, no longer a Hmong. we then did a new tenancy for 2 remaining tenants. 3rd tenant we found out hasn't left. Do we serve them all a section 21 or are we admitting liability that it's a Hmo

I also need advice
Fixed term runs from 20th sept 2015 - 19th march 2016
i intend to serve a S21(1)(b) tomorrow 18th march ie still in the fixed term (just)
my questions are :

do i need to put in a Notice Expiry date ie i THINK that will be 19th may 2016
and if i need to put this date in do i liaise with the tenant for a suitable date for them to move out after that date ??

thanks

I had a Fixed term AST end on 16th march 2016. I served the notice on the 26th Decemeber 2015. Requiring Possession on the 17th of March 16. Since then my house was up for sale and was to be sold to an investor who wanted the tenant to remain, we anticipated completion/exchange on the date of possession (17/03) but this has not occurred and as we are (Buyer adn I) still negotiating the tenant and I have mutually agreed a periodic arrangement on a weekly basis, via email only, no signatures etc. I was wondering whether, I now need to serve a further Section 21 notice and thus provide a further two months notice?

I want to serve notice form 6A (section 21). The tenancy agreement for 6 months, started 04/03/16-ending 03/09/16. I want to serve the notice by post that adds +3 days. The notice would be 2 months from 16/07/16-16/09/16.

Would the notice be still valid as the tenancy will be periodic not fixed term anymore after the 03/09/16?

I gave notice section 21 on 1st march 16. Tenancy agreement started 1st oct ends 1st August 16. I will be going through court as tenant has already told me they won't be leaving. I just hope I haven't given section too soon. I don't want to have it thrown out due to dates. Any advice would be appreciated
Thanks

I have a tennant Who is on housing benefit, I have served a section 21 notice but he says that the council are telling him to stay put. Do I now have to go to court for an eviction notice??

Section 21 form. Says .you are required to leave the below address after (. ) ?
Does that mean date of issue of form 21 .
Also after address at bottom of page it says Landlord should insert a calendar date here.
Nor sure which way round start and end dates go .
thanks if you or any one can help

Is a section 21 notice (form 6a) still valid if there is no actual date in item 2, but it just says "(tenancy end date)"? We are happy to leave but need longer to find somewhere or we will be homeless for Christmas. Thank you.

When serving notice (S21 or S8) for a joint tenancy where one tenant has left but tenancy agreement not updated, is it sufficient to just serve the notice at the property address and tell the remaining tenant to inform the joint tenant? Assuming that they are still in contact of course......

My personal situation is that tenancy agreement is in joint names (originally AST but now SPT),and the couple split up but one of them remained in the flat. I know that I need to serve notice on both of them, but I don't know if serving notice at the property is enough, or whether I need to go to more effort to confirm that he has actually received the notice....

Need to serve a section 21 (4)a as it was early 2015 6 months, do I need to supply a how to rent guide or epc as it came in after Oct 2015 ?