I have an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement that runs until 31 July 2026. I need to move into my property after 31 July 2026 but am aware that the Renters Rights Bill will make all short term tenancy agreements rolling contracts.
Can I give my tenants notice now - before the RRB comes into affect - that I will need them to move out on the end date of 31 July 2026 on the current agreement?
Would I have to complete Form 6A to notify them of my intentions?
If you’re saying that you want to give the tenants notice now that you’d like them to move out on the 31st of July 2026, then no. That’s exactly the point of the bill.
I know, but the bill hasn’t taken effect yet and I can’t do rolling contracts so I would like to give my clients notice and honour the agreement that I did make with them which was to let my property until 31 July 2026.
These are contradictory. If you “know” then there are no "but"s. You can argue with the law, but the law will win.
Tenancies don’t work like you think they do. Even without the RRB, serving notice to expire on the 31st of July 2026 does not end the tenancy. The tenants don’t have to leave then. They can stay on. What will you do then?
The only thing that ends a tenancy is a court order and bailiffs. At the moment, that’s taking up to a year. Once the RRB becomes law, that delay could increase.
As you want to live there, the RRB makes allowance for that. But you should expect delays if tenants decide not to leave on the date you have in mind.
There is absolutely no reason why you can’t (informally) tell your tenants that when the tenancy agreement expires in July 2026, that you would want them to be moving out, so you can move in.
I would also suggest that you make it clear to them that you are prepared to be flexible and allow the contract to end before the end of July if they find a new home sooner. This flexibility will make it more easy for them to move out, which is your end goal.
You will then need to serve the formal notice nearer the time. That could be a Section 21 notice under current regs, or may need to be a 4m Section 8 notice under RRB depending when the new rules come into effect.
Obviously, if they don’t move out, you will need to to go to court, so whilst plan A might be you moving back into the property, you need to have a back up plan.
I would add that you can’t serve a section 21 now, as they are valid and can be enforced only for a period of six months.
Firstly, if you have a specific date or period in mind for when you wish to move back in, you should be aware that it may be impossible to achieve this unless the tenant is willing to comply.
S21 notices are only valid for 6 months, so there’s no point serving one now to end in July 2026. Eviction of a tenant who doesn’t leave when requested is currently taking between 8 and 12 months from the day you serve notice in most places. If you served a 2 month s21 now and applied to the courts for possession as soon as it expired and then bailiffs at the earliest opportunity and assuming you get everything right first time, you would expect to re-take the property around July next year if you are in an area without a huge backlog of cases.
I applied to court on the 10th September and on the 11th September, the court had sent out all of the documents to the tenant. No defence was filled and a court possession order has been granted. Unless bailiffs take a minimum 5 months to attend. I really don’t think that it is a minimum of 8 months, unless my court is just super efficient. Merseyside area, which is a high rental area. I’ve used a solicitor and it’s via the county court, so I don’t believe there is any kind of fast track that’s been used.
That’s really useful info to have thanks Fro. Good to hear that someone has a positive experience of the court process. Do let us know how long it takes from beginning to end.
Thank you all for the information. That’s all very helpful. Maybe I wasn’t clear but I’m not having any problems with my tenants and fully expect that they will leave on 31 July 2026 as that was the length of tenancy that they signed even if, when the RRB comes in, the contract becomes rolling. I just want to give them a heads up and was trying to avoid court fees to serve a Section 8 under the RRB. Good to know that it’s too early to serve a Section 21 now too. So, thank you all again for your help.
Thank you. So far it’s been the two months notice period (my solicitor added an extra week to be sure), and then took a week after that to apply to court for the S21, due to their workload. So it’s been 2 months + 2 weeks to get to court. The court itself has been extremely efficient so far, the only negative we’ve found is that they do not keep you updated, when they are meant to. For example, my solicitor submitted all of the paperwork on the 10th September and the court issued the paperwork to the tenant only 1 day later, which was super impressive. What wasn’t impressive was when my solicitor called the court 2.5 weeks later for an update, only to find out that not only did the court issue the paperwork to the tenant over two weeks of prior, but also that the tenants 14 day period to file a defence had lapsed. You’d think they’d keep you informed, because as you’ll know, we then had to apply for the case to be referred to a judge, which then prevents the tenant from being able to file a defence, as the court still would have accepted a late defence, until the moment we requested it to be referred to a judge. The paperwork was in order, so the tenant has to leave with 14 days of the possession order. I’m in no doubt that they will not respect the court’s decision and will wait for bailiffs to attend. I was tempted to upgrade it to the high court, but apparently the transfer can take up to 6 weeks and I’m hoping that the bailiffs will be as efficient as the entire process has been so far, in which cause it could potentially take longer trying to transfer it to a high court, rather than just waiting for the county court bailiffs to come knocking.
Mine signed a 6 month tenancy and agreed that they’d leave at the end of that and since then have refused to leave. I also wanted the house back to live in. Just because they say they’ll leave, does not mean that they’ll leave. A monthly rolling contract would not make it any easier to evict a tenant.
That does sound like an exceptionally short period to get a court order. Congratulations. I wouldnt expect that to be common across the rest of the country though. My figures were in part based on the Govt’s own averages as well as reports across the various landlord forums.
I also had a concurrent section 8 case, however we placed a stay on that in and had it as a back up to the S21. It was overkill, as we knew that all the documentation for the S21 was in order, but as the tenant thinks that they’re a solicitor, it was there as a back up. Although the S21 and S8 are meant to be mutually exclusive, I’m not sure if the court decided to prioritise or S21, as to avoid wasting court resources with the S8. I guess we’ll never know. Perhaps they’re just an efficient court or perhaps because all of our documentation was in perfect order. I really don’t know!
I don’t believe jufarino has that option, unless there is good cause, which there doesn’t appear to be,
as that would break the 12 month AST currently in place.
You’re probably right if the tenancy began 1 August 2025, but my point was really about Jufarino having to decide what his priority is. If its to carry on receiving rent for the time being, then its unlikely he will be able to recover possession after July 2026. If however, this is the priority, he should serve notice ASAP, which sounds like it would be 1 December this year.
Hi
Just to clarify. Assuming the RRB comes into affect at the end of Oct 25 or early Nov 25 as anticipated, how early can I serve a Section 8 to the tenants to let them know that I need to move back into my property on 1 August 2026. I thought I couldn’t serve a Section 8 more than 6 months in advance? From the above discussion, it seems I only serve a Section 8 if the tenants won’t leave but then it could be several months before I can get back into my property while it goes through the courts so I’d rather serve it earlier rather than later.
Thanks. Julia (Ju is for Julia)
I think you’re getting very confused and I suggest you don’t try to do anything without legal help from a solicitor or eviction company.
Its s21 that has a shelf life of 6 months. S8 is valid for one year.
Although the RRB will likely pass into law within the next week or two, it will not be implemented immediately. The Government will give a period of time to draft regulations stemming from it and for the sector to gear up for the new Act. This is likely to something between 3 and 6 months. During that time, s21 notices can still be used.
Sorry, yes. I got the S21 and S8 mixed up re 6 months. And thank you, yes, I will definitely take advice should my tenants refuse to leave.
I do know that there will be a period of time after the RRB becomes law before all agreements become rolling but even if it’s 6 months, my current agreement will expire after that on 31 July 2026 so the reason for asking this question now is because I’m trying to establish whether a S21 will be invalidated once all agreements become rolling even if I issue it before law is implemented. I am just trying to find the easiest way and avoid the courts and lengthy delays. Under the RRB, I know I can still use S8 as I want to move back into my property but that will involve the courts and no definitive end date.
TBH, I made my tenancy agreement before the RRB will come into law and I’m frustrated that I can’t just see it out and chose the leave the rental market at the end of it without all this hassle. I’ve never had rolling contracts and 1 year lets always worked well for me and my tenants.
S21 notices issued before the law is enacted will remain valid.
Tbh, with the exception of student properties, periodic tenancies are generally better for the landlord provided there is an initial term of around 6 months to allow things to settle. That will change under the RRA of course.
Ah, that’s great to know that an S21 notice will remain valid if issued before the law in enacted. Thank you so much for clarifying. I really appreciate your help.