Liz Shaw, director at Wake Smith Solicitors looks at further changes to Section 21 and Section 8 Notices.
As indicted in my recent update, the stay that was due to end on 23 August 2020 was extended by a further 4 weeks until 20 September 2020.
Further regulations were brought in to change the notice period and amend the prescribed forms of notices which are now in force.
These changes apply now to 30 March 2021 for assured shorthold tenancies in the private rented sector.
Section 21 Notices
The minimum length of time to be given by a Section 21 Notice is now 6 months. The default position (without any further changes in legislation) is that this will revert back to 2 months in April 2021 but there is no guarantee to rule out further changes between now and then.
Prior to Covid, there was a requirement for proceedings to be issued within 6 months of a Section 21 Notice being served. This deadline has now been extended to 10 months from service of the notice which means in practice a landlord has 4 months after the expiry of the notice to issue court proceedings for possession.
Section 8 Notices
The 6 month period also applies to Section 8 Notices with some exceptions.
Whilst there are other exceptions, the two main exceptions that will apply in the vast majority of cases are set out below:-
- Grounds 8, 10 or 11 - rent arrears; if the tenant is in at least 6 months’ rent arrears the Notice is required to give a minimum of 4 weeks rather than 6 months.
- Ground 14 – Nuisance and/or Criminal Convictions; where the landlord serves a notice relying on ground 14, there is no minimum amount of time required before the landlord can commence court proceedings. This is a return to the position as it was before the Covid19 Pandemic.
The above provisions are not retrospective. The above regulations apply to any notice served on or after Saturday 29 August 2020. Accordingly, the regulations could also apply to any notice that was served by post on Thursday or Friday 27 or 28 August 2020.
It’s important for landlords to recognise that ground 14 is a discretionary ground meaning that Judges must consider the facts of the case and the Judges have a discretion as to whether to order the tenant to leave the property or not.
Accordingly, if there are also arrears of rent, it’s better to also rely on Ground 8 if possible as it is a mandatory ground and the Judge will have no discretion if proven.
The problems will arise in cases which Judges consider to be “low level” antisocial behaviour where Judges feel that ground 14 has been raised only as device to serve a shorter notice period.
For further information contact Elizabeth Shaw at [email protected]
