We are trying to work out the best way to give notice to the tenants in our property to enable it to be sold vacant sometime around the end of the year.
We have 2 very longstanding tenants in 2 of the 5 flats and want to give them as much time as possible to find alternative accomodation and 2 other tenants on ASTs. We’re aware that from 1 May we can only serve a Section 8 notice which gives 4 months. Prior to then I think we could either use Section 21 or Section 8.
My question is whether it’s possible to serve Notice now by give our tenants more than the statutory minimum notice? If it is, what constraints are there on what length of notice we could specify?
I appreciate time is running out but we’ve only just found ourselves in this position.
Personally, I’d be serving Section 21 notices before 30th April rather than waiting. Section 21 is an easier eviction process if they don’t leave & you must go to court.
The restriction on section 21 notice is that it would need to have expired and court proceedings started (if tenant doesnt leave) by 31 july. It wouldnt really work for your position so 4 months notice under section 8 seems the option if you are happy for them to be there until later in year.
When you say 2 long-standing tenants, do you mean before 28 Feb 1997 and they are Assured Tenants or even before 15 Jan 1989 and they’re Regulated Tenancies?
They are both on new relatively recent modern tenancy agreements but have been living in our flats for around 30 years. My father was their original landlord and we’ve accepted below market rents from them throughout this time because we felt it’s what he would have done.
So if it was before 1997, they will likely be Assured Tenants, (you should check the original paperwork). If so, this will remain the case even if they’ve now been given a different type of tenancy agreement, and s21 wont be an option with them. Section 8 can be used, but there is no s8 ground at present for selling a property.
On 1 May, their tenancies will convert to APTs under the RRA and you will also need to serve them with copies of the Information Sheet.
If you are consider giving them notice, then at that point ground 1A for selling a property may be an option, but you should get specialist advice on whether their rights will be any different to the AST tenants you have. One key difference will be that after 1 May, the Tenant Fees Act will apply to their tenancies.
OK. Thank you everyone. Very helpful. It sounds to me as if the best way forward given we don’t expect to be in a position to sell until the end of 2026 would be to allow the tenancies to transition into APTs under the new regime and then rely on a S8 Ground 1A process with 4 months notice. We could explain our approach and intentions well in advance so as to maximise the time for our tenants.
I understand S21 under the pre-RRA regulations could be applicable to 2 of the tenants but, if I’ve understood the answers correctly, we would need (a) to have served this and asked them to have left and (b) then launched court proceedings before the end of July (if they’d refused). Our aim is not to be threatening but to work with our tenants to enable them to move on to new accommodation over a longer timescale than this. I appreciate there are always risks they refuse to vacate but hopefully if we continue to treat them fairly they will respond the same way.
Get on and do it they are not your friends and things can fall apart quickly after years of harmony. You are taking their home away so best get on with it.
Having said that i gave one tenant about 4 months 2 months ago
PROPHESY: The reason to get on with it is rachel will increase capital gains tax significantly in the next budget and that really will hurt.
I am dumping six properties now and this is a major concern for me . (Apart from the RRA and tax digital et al) i believe to meet Labour’s benefits commitments that CGT is going to increase
Remember that if they refuse to leave at end of the notice (whether s21 or s8) it could easily take over a year before you gain possession
"Nationwide, the average eviction waiting time through the County Court system is six months. This is on top of the often long delay to get the order for possession in the first place.
In London, once the order for possession is granted, the average CCB delays are eight months and, in many cases, over a year before the eviction takes place."
And this will get worse due to a surge of s21s ahead of 1 may and all such evictions post 1 nay having to be dealt instead via s8 (with court hearings and evidence to be weighed instead of more straightforward s21 process).
The other option you have is to agree date(s).for a mutual 'deed of surrender ’ for the tenancies - if they do stay beyond the agreed date you still have to apply to court for possession but as they are then trespassing it’s a lot quicker process, I’ve read here
Many thanks to all those who responded to me. It does appear to be a bit of a minefield.
I am interested in the suggestion of a Deed of Surrender which appears to offer the kind of mutually respectful approach we are trying to find although I guess if you choose this approach you may need to offer tenants some incentive to co-operate.
S21 just seems pretty brutal and may well not be available to us due the time 2 of our tenants have been with us.
And S8 could leave us in a potentially costly impasse if one or more tenant refuses to leave and we have to fund a partly untenanted property (since you cannot re-let after issuing) for however long it takes to deal with the problem.
Not easy!
PS Sorry that my posts have been under 2 different OpenRent IDs. Both my wife and I have logins to the Forum
Deeds of surrender are of little legal effect if signed in advance. They have to be executed at the moment of departure.
Evicting a tresspasser is only a little bit quicker as it still requires a court order and potentially bailiffs.
A DoS is only a good option if the tenants wont be seeking help from the Council for future housing as they would be considered intentionally homeless.
Thanks David122. 3 of our tenants do receive local authority support which means the DoS route is I think ruled out so it looks like S8 is the only real option.
Much appreciate all the advice received via this forum.