The Deregulation Act 2015 brings a
degree of clarity to some sections in the
Housing Act 1988 as amended in the Housing
Act 2004. In particular, the following Assured
Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) (Amendment)
Regulations 2015. One such section is Section
21 of the Housing Act 1988 – Recovery of Possession on Expiry or
Termination of Assured Shorthold Tenancy.
What is a Section 21 notice?
A Section 21 notice
is the notice a landlord can serve to a tenant or tenants in order to repossess
his property. A Section 21 notice
cannot be issued more than 2 months prior to the end of the fixed term date of
the agreed tenancy.
The only way a tenant can successfully challenge and stop a Section 21 notice possession claim is if
there has been a technical error in the application forms or a tenant has not
been provided with all the correct prescribed information and protected the
tenant’s deposit correctly.
When can a landlord serve a Section 21 notice?
A landlord can issue a Section
21 notice seeking possession of a dwelling if the tenants have a written
assured shorthold tenancy or statutory periodic tenancy agreement and their
deposit has been protected in a government approved scheme (as outlined in the Deregulation Act 2015). The tenant must
also have been given all the prescribed information before the Section 21 is served.
Tenants cannot be evicted until their fixed term tenancy
ends. If a Section 21 notice is
served prior to the end of the fixed term, the notice must expire on the last
day of the rental period of the fixed term.
What has changed?
For all tenancies starting on or after 1st October
2015, a landlord must use a new prescribed form to serve a Section 21 notice, available from the government website.
A Section 21 notice cannot be served if a tenant’s deposit
has not been protected and the tenant has received all the prescribed
information (even if their tenancy became periodic prior to the Housing [Tenancy Deposits] Prescribed
Information Order coming into force on 6th April 2007).
If a tenancy started prior to 1st October 2015,
the government are recommending use of the new prescribed Section 21 form. However, the previous Section 21 form is still
valid for those tenancies that started before 1st October 2015.
Below are links to the relevant legislation on the government
website.
Assured
Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) (Amendment)
Regulations 2015
Deregulation
Act 2015
Housing
(Tenancy Deposits) Prescribed Information Order 2007
Housing Act
2004
Housing Act 1988
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