Landlords Corner (What is a Section 21 notice? )
A Section 21 (Form 6A) is the notice served upon a tenant to notify them that the landlord wishes to seek possession of the property on or after a specific date. The Section 21 is commonly referred to as the “no blame notice” as the landlord is not accusing the tenant of breaching the tenancy or misbehaving.
When can I use the Section 21 notice?
As this is a no-blame route, the landlord can only seek possession at either the end of a fixed-term or during a monthly periodic term on condition that the landlord had served the requisite notice period of two months. Currently, the minimum notice period for a Section 21 is two months, although in recent times, because of Covid, this has fluctuated between 3 and 6 months. The Section 21 notice does not end the tenancy; therefore, all contractual obligations, for example, paying the rent, remain in force until possession is given.
Do I need to use a certain form?
In days past, a Section 21 could have been served on the back of a cereal packet, but in 2015, new legislation introduced brought an obligation to use a prescribed form called the 6A. In reality, this is about two pages in length when completed and only requires information to be used which is already known to the landlord.
From our experience, the only real complication is working out the expiry date of the Form 6A. This can be calculated by taking the date of the notice, i.e. 1st March 2022, adding two months as a minimum notice period and then adding three days for service time. This would then result in an expiry date of 4th May 2022.
What are the compliance requirements for a Section 21?
For any tenancy which started on or after 1st October 2015, there is a raft of compliance requirements to be considered before a landlord can decide whether a valid Section 21 can be served. The list is as follows with a brief description of the requirement:
Tenancy Deposit: The deposit must have been protected within one of the three authorised schemes and prescribed information given to the tenant and any relevant person within thirty days of receipt of the tenancy deposit. Failure to adhere would not only sink a Section 21 in court, but it also potentially makes a landlord liable to pay financial compensation to a tenant who becomes aware of such non-compliance.
Gas Safety Record (GSR): A valid copy of a GSR must have been given to the tenant before they commenced occupation, and any subsequent GSR must have been conducted by an authorised engineer within the expiry period (which is annually). Failure to comply with such requirements make the valid service of a Section 21 much more difficult.
Energy Performance Certificate (EPC): A copy of a valid EPC must be provided to the tenant before a Section 21 is served.
How to Rent Guide (Checklist for England): The most relevant guide must be provided to the tenant before a Section 21 is served. This is an ambiguous compliance requirement as the most relevant version of the guide depends on what date a tenancy started and what version of the guide was relevant at that time. Considering there have been nine versions published since 2015, it can become complicated, so our advice is, if in doubt, serve them all.
Landlord License Application: If the property requires a landlord to be licensed for either mandatory, selective, or additional licensing, then such an application must have been submitted to the local council before a Section 21 is served. It would also be beneficial for any landlord to ensure that evidence of submission, such as an email from the local council, was sought.
Summary
The service of a Section 21 in 2022 has become fraught with dangers and pitfalls; thus, it is even more important that a landlord is fully aware of all the compliance obligations surrounding the service of such a notice.
From our experience, there are many eagle-eyed judges and defence solicitors lurking who will shoot down an invalid Section 21 at will and leave the uneducated landlord with a sizeable legal invoice to pay.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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