Basic information on section 21 notice - If the tenants deposit was applicable for protection and you failed to protect it, in law any section 21 notice served may be deemed invalid. Lately a court of Appeal ruling on this subject has been helpful for landlords, case of “Tiensia v Universal Estates & Honeysuckle properties v Fletcher”.

If the landlord requires possession at the end of a fixed term tenancy (under section 21), he is required to serve a two months' notice on the tenant. Only when the notice has expired, if the tenant has not left, can you then commence Court possession proceedings.

There are two types of section 21 notices and you should make sure you have served the right notices. If the tenancy agreement is within the fixed term (not yet expired) you will need to serve a standard section 21 notice known as a section 21 notice (1) (b). If the tenancy has expired, you will need to serve a notice which is known as a section 21 periodic notice (4) (a). For avoidance of doubt if you already served a section 21 notice (1) (b) when the tenancy was within the fixed term and then expired you do not then need to reserve a periodic notice.

Warning: This page is for information only and we do not recommend that any landlord attempts to issue proceedings for possession if they are not legally trained. Should any claim for possession fail the tenant may well be entitled to their legal fees for defending, which the landlord may well be asked to pay. Fees for defending a section 21 or section 8 claim are likely to be several hundred pounds. 

Landlords renting residential property should beware that tenants have rights in law which prevent them being evicted or unlawfully harassed by landlords. It is a legal requirement that landlords obtain a possession order from a court before they can start to exercise any right to possession.