Housing Law Specialists - You can trustSection 21 Possession Claims

A Section 21 notice is the most common way for a landlord to begin an eviction of a tenant. Landlords must follow strict procedure in order to evict a tenant else they risk being guilty of harassment or illegally evicting their tenants.

In order for a Section 21 to be considered legal it must;

• Be delivered in writing, giving the tenant at least two months’ notice
• Be on the correct form if the tenant signed a new contract or renewal agreement on or after 1 October 2015.

If you are issued a Section 21 notice, you will not have to leave immediately. Landlords have to give a minimum of two months’ notice. Landlords are not obliged to give a reason for evicting the tenant although some reasons include;

• The landlord wants to move back in to the property
• Rent is overdue
• The tenant has breached their contract in any way
• The property has been inherited

The initial most important thing to do is check the validity of the Section 21 notice. If the notice is in any way not valid then you may be able to challenge it and remain in your home. The notice will be invalid if;

• A minimum of two months’ notice are not given
• The landlord did not protect the tenant’s deposit
• The landlord did not provide a receipt of the deposit
• The notice has any mistakes on it, such as spelling your name incorrectly
• You live in a property that requires a licence and your landlord doesn’t have one
• You have only been in the property for 4 months

S21 notices can be complicated and Housing Law Solicitors can advise tenants on the issue of a Section 21 Notice, including whether an S21 can be used to gain possession of a property – and whether a landlord has issued the S21 correctly.