I have always been on good terms with my tenant and she is on a rolling contract after being there for 8 years. I would like her to leave as I need the flat for my daughter. I have verbally so far given her 2 months notice as per the contract. I will put that into writing but what I want to know is, with all the new rental laws coming into force, do I need to actually serve a section 21 notice/form 6a? Thanks for your help.
Hi, you should serve a section 21 notice form. on government website.
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The risk is that if you don’t officially serve S21, she won’t leave in 2 months and then you’ll be faced with having to do it then and this will delay your plans. With the S21, at least if she doesn’t move, you can begin court proceedings.
If you’re absolutely certain she will leave as planned, then you don’t have to, but that’s leaving the door open to delay.
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Thank you. Yes, and the new laws will probably be fully passed in April, which is leaving it rather close. The other worry is that there are probably less properties to rent as many landlords in London have sold up. If she can’t find somewhere easily she may need to stay.. and then it gets complicated.
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hence why you need to use S21 Everything needs to be by the book.
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Why not both written notice AND the s21 - explaining to tenant that “as you have always been on good terms with her you expect she will leave as per the notice/contract terms. And that you are only serving the s21 because of advice that you should do so as a backup, because it will be better for both you if she leaves as per the notice. You want to be able to give her a good reference”
If you gave notice verbally, then it won’t be a surprise to be given same notice in writing, why not do it even if doing s21 too.
Other thing to consider is whether/ what flexibility you have - is 2 months a hard deadline or could you offer a short temporary contract of some sort beyond the end point if needed or a longer notice period if they requested. Can you help tenant eg by returning deposit promptly?
And …thank them for being a good tenant.
It’s never going to be an easy conversation to tell someone you want them to move from their home of 8 years, they will be worried about finding a new place as rents have gone up so much in 8 years and there’s competition for places, so anything you can do to ease the worry/uncertainty or help is worth considering doing. You’ve been excellent in telling them verbally first tho harder for you as more personal than in a letter.
Good luck
Thank you so much. Really great advice. With so many landlords in London selling up it might well be difficult for her to find somewhere. We sent her the How To Rent info from the GOV website. Apparently something you have to have given so the section 21 is valid. And she must acknowledge receipt of it. She would have had it at the start (hopefully!) when the flat was rented through an agent (?!) but she has probably forgotten. We only paid a finders fee and no other ongoing expenses. Apparently you need to give this to tenants every time it’s updated… but how are we supposed to know that I am not sure.
No, you have to issue it to tenants every time a new tenancy agreement starts. If an AST goes periodic and a new edition has been issued since the AST started, you need to issue the updated edition. This will not happen going forward as under the RRA tenancies are already periodic from the start.
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People employ letting agents to manage tenancies and know this stuff
You chose not to do that so you need to learn it somehow -if you’re unsure what to do & your responsibilities as a landlord, maybe join a landlords association and get some training?
Meanwhile try this
https://blog.openrent.co.uk/landlord-responsibilities/
And
“For a Section 21 notice to be valid, the landlord must have provided the tenant with essential documents, the notice must be on the correct form (Form 6A), and it must be served correctly, with at least two months’ notice and no earlier than the four-month mark of the original tenancy. Other requirements include correctly protecting the tenant’s deposit and providing the tenant with the correct “How to Rent” guide, Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), and gas safety certificate (if applicable). “
Good luck
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Section 21 or simple
As a landlord you should know the rules. There’s plenty of free info available online, including forums like this. You should also belong to a professional body such as Landlords Guild on NRLA. Even if you pay an agent, you’re still liable if they screw up - just ask Rachel Reeves.
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