I have recently served a section 21 to my tenant before the new rules. I served the section 21 using the Open Rent online tool - The S21 has now expired and the tenant has not moved out, therefore I am now using a solicitor to apply to the court.
After they reviewed the case prior to court application, they have advised that the S21 is not valid due to it being served within the fixed term.
Now the AST was created using Open Rent “rent now” service and as standard all their agreements come with a break clause (Clause 9.6) which can be used after 4 months from the start of the fixed term as long as the notice doesn’t expire before 6 months taking the 2 months notice as part of that. I knew about this process prior to serving the notice. For the avoidance of doubt the fixed term contract started on November 2025 and therefore the 4 months lapsed in March 2026. The S21 was served in April 2026 (on month 5), expiring in June 2026 (Month 7)
The Clause states the following:
“The Initial Term of this tenancy agreement may be terminated by either party giving the other at least two months’ notice in writing, such notice not to expire until at least 6 months after the start of the Term. A notice served by the Landlord under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 shall be sufficient notice under this clause”
Please tell me im not missing something here? as it clearly states in black ink that a S21 can be used after 4 months after the start of the term.
I know that not all Solicitors are right and they do make mistakes, particularly if their “case workers” are working on a case on their behalf where mistakes can happen.
@Robert
check using the nearly legal.s21 flowchart
And get your solicitors to do same and explain why they think it’s not legal in your case
- Shelter seem so think it can be served during the fixed term
Break clauses’ and notices for tenancies during a fixed term
If an assured shorthold tenancy is for a fixed term that has not yet ended, the landlord can only rely on section 21(1) to claim possession if the tenancy agreement contains a ‘break clause’ which allows the landlord to end the fixed term early.
If a fixed-term tenancy agreement does not contain a break clause, the landlord may serve a section 21(1) notice before the fixed term expires but cannot apply for a possession order until after the fixed-term has ended.
It is likely that a notice which expires earlier than the last day of the fixed term is not a proper notice. This is because the tenant who receives the notice may be misled into thinking that they have to leave before the end of the fixed term.
- Again get the solicitors to review the Shelter advice and explain why Shelter are wrong in your case.
- Shelter also publish a s21 validity Checker and you/your solicitors can try using that
See also
- There’s another s21 Checker herehttps://www.s21check.com/questions
Good luck
1 Like
Ps @Robert42
According to openrent
"
The following information is relevant only if a section 21 notice has been correctly served prior to 1 May 2026
When can a Section 21 notice be served?
A section 21 notice can be served any time after the first 4 months of a fixed term tenancy. If the tenancy is a renewal and the parties and property have remained the same then the 4 months will run from the start of the initial tenancy.
What is the earliest date that a S21 notice can expire?
The Section 21 notice can expire either at the end of the fixed term or after the fixed term has ended and the tenancy has become periodic. "
https://help.openrent.co.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/360029620492-What-is-a-Section-21-Eviction
From what youve said, the notice may be valid, (barring any other errors). Is this a specialist Landlord and Tenant Solicitor? If not, I would ditch him/her, find one quickly and have them check it your paperwork.