Landlords, are you aware of the changes to Section 8/21 Notices?
Well, the Government has sneaked in a new tenancy regulation change which, in essence, makes the changes for increasing the length of notices to six months in England, except in the most serious of cases, such as incidents of anti-social behavior and domestic abuse perpetrators. The regulations are The Coronavirus Act 2020 (Residential Tenancies: Protection from Eviction) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020 and are valid from 29th August until March 2021.
The two main areas of change are to Section 21 & 8 notices.
Section 21 Notice
This is fairly straightforward:
- Six months notice is now required before seeking possession through the courts
- Validity period extended to 10 months
Section 8 Notice
Generally, the notice period is six months. There are some exceptions, the most notable of which are:
- anti-social behaviour – no notice period but must be given before proceedings commenced so should be at least 4 days for service and delivery
- domestic abuse (now 2 to 4 weeks’ notice)
- false statement (now 2 to 4 weeks’ notice)
- over 6 months’ accumulated rent arrears (now 4 weeks’ notice)
- breach of immigration rules ‘Right to Rent’ (now 3 months’ notice)
You can read the Government Announcement here.
A useful explanation of the changes from a solicitor’s mouth is from a LinkedIn post found here.
Looking for advice with your tenancy?
We can help you with the full management of your property, or if you require less comprehensive services then, for example, we can write up the relevant documentation on an ad-hoc basis to ensure the right legal notice is given. Give us a call today on 01454 316 718.
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