Hi - would love some help on this.
I served my tenants up with the notice 21 in April. I said to them tho, they can take re time finding somewhere ( 6 months). But I have no read I need to start legal proceedings before July 31st otherwise the notice 21 won’t be valid? Is that right ? If so can I start legal proceddings but delay everything legally to give my tenants time to leave by say October?
What date did you set the s21 to expire? If it was before the end of July then you can start proceedings straight after the end date. You cant artificially delay, but it will probably take a lot longer than October before the bailiffs remove them anyway.
We gave them 6 months notice. I wanted to give them as long as possible. Ideally I don’t want to start court proceedings, but I’ve read I have to (if I understand it right) as the trasintional law. Can I just not do anything and they have until October before I do anything. I don’t mind it taking time, just wanted to have something in place legally if they never move.
Then the notice is of no use, since you cant apply for a court order until it expires and thats too late.
Correct. Last date to serve application for possession following a s21 is 31 july 2026
"If you gave a section 21 notice to your tenant before 1 May 2026, then you can only use it to start court proceedings up to and including whichever date comes first:
the time left on the notice
31 July 2026
This limit is set by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 and may shorten the time to start court proceedings compared to the time periods shown on the form."
So in practice your s21 notice is still ‘valid’ but once it expires if they stay you have no means to seek possession. They may not know that of course. But your generosity has made the s21 ineffective if they know their rights.
If you want them to be certain of moving with a route that allows you to seek possession if they stay beyond the notice date, you’ll need to use one of the new RRA s8 grounds
Good luck
Yes I see, thank you for your answer.
so in effect it’s pointless me applying for court proceedings to keep the notice 21 valid?
that by the way is really unfair, because it seems they have made rule after I did it
The plot thickens with this one.
I’ve just looked my copy of the notice 21, and the official date on the notice is in fact July the 9th. And the 6 month offer from me was just on email.
Would my ‘notice 21’ now be valid, (even tho I offered her more time on email?)
if so I could start court proceedings and delay instructing Baylifs if she hasn’t moved by October (I imagine it wouldn’t get to that stage yet anyway with court times.
what’s the exact wording of your email to her?
standard notice from LL to T in April was 2 months. This would have expired in June. 6 months on top of that is December so I’m not sure where October comes in.
It sounds like this was delivered by a letting agent which may further complicate things if you decide to renege on this agreement because they will be implicated by association.
I mentioned October, because we put on the email that I could let them stay potentially stay 6 months from Mid Aptil
unfortunately, that’s not what the email appears to say. If I read it right, the part that says “further extension” implies that this is on top of the “standard notice period”. That’s what I take the “further” to mean.
It’s hard to know because the entire sentence runs off the screen and so isn’t visible.
Well I guess none the less - I’m asking do I apply for court proceedings and it would be still be valid and not do anything until the new year then, and if she doesn’t go I can instruct the baylifs. I’m not bothered when she goes - I just want her to get sorted. But want it done legally if she doesn’t go after a crazy amount of time
the transition rules and deadline of 31 july for applying to the court for possession was publicised and known about months before 1 may. The fact you didnt know about it was erm your own fault. It wasnt introduced after you had served notice in april
Best
the real question here is whether having a valid S21 notice with an expiry date before the 31st July deadline is going to mean an application for possession will be successful and provide the OP with the property back within a reasonable time frame.
My thought is that as an S21 is likely to result in bailiffs attending before December, then they should go ahead and do it. It’s one way of ensuring they get possession if the T turns out to be taking them for a ride and simply stays on.
I would apply for possession via the court now and def before 31 july. But check with a lawyer?
@David122 may have a view but I ‘think’ it’s the dates on the official s21 documents that count for whether you can still apply for possession not any separate informal offer.
In any case the average time from application for possession to eviction (if you have to get bailiffs) was 8 months (longer in london)
Source: High Court Enforcement Officers Association https://share.google/fW7GCINKwD7R3FAap
and may have increased with an influx of s21s. So you may still end up giving them 6 months before you get to a final step anyway
Good luck
Thanks everyone , much appreciated
Yes, you can apply to court for possession now. The email is probably not binding, but in any case it says up to 6 months. 1 day satisfies that criteria and it’s already been more than 2 weeks.
Just check that all other aspects of the notice are correct. See the Nearly legal s21 checker.
The notice would have been of no use anyway if you’d set it to end after 6 months. S21 notices only had a shelf life of 6 months, so it would have expired before you could use it.
