Hi. I have a tenant who is on a 6 months AST contract ending 28/05/26. I need to get them out asap. Do I serve them the section 21 notice 2 months before the 28/05/26 so that they don’t go over the 6 months and leave before their contact expires or do I have to serve it on the day the contract ends, which means they would need to be out by 28/07/26? Thanks for any help.
A Section 21 notice for a 6-month Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) can be served after the first 4 months of the tenancy have elapsed, meaning the earliest it can be served is at the start of month 5. The notice must provide at least 2 months’ notice and cannot expire before the end of the fixed 6-month term.
From 1 May you cant serve s21s due to the introduction of the Renters Rights Act (RRA), from which date you need to serve them a notice on specific s8 grounds giving 4 months notice. If you dont know about RRA time to learn about it…
Alternatively you may have a clause in your tenancy agreement allowing them to give notice and leave earlier if you and they agree, or you/they can agree an earlier date and both sign a ‘deed of surrender’ document. Either of these may be easier/quicker than s21/s8 [for which if they stay, you then have to apply to court for possession]
Good luck
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Thanks for the info, that was really helpful. I knew about the law changing on 1 May, which is why I wanted to know if I could serve a section 21 notice before the 6 month contract ends ie can I serve it before 1 May with the end date being 29 May?
Yes you can. Valid s21s served before 1 may remain valid after. The deadline for serving court papers (if they don’t move out by the s21 date) is 31 July.
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