I served a S21 via Openrent in April, tenant is now questioning the validity of the S21. Stating that I should have reattached all the tenancy documents (EPC, deposit protection details etc.) at the time of serving the notice. As I understand it when OpenRent provides them at the start of the tenancy, this is sufficient for the Section 21 to be valid. Am I correct? And if so, does anyone know where I can find this in writing as I cannot locate it on the Gov.uk website. Thank you.
No, the tenant is completely wrong. You don’t need to reattach the original docs for an s21 to be valid. So long as they.were served originally. Which you will need to provide evidence of for the court if the tenant challenges
Use the "nearly legal.s21 flowchart ’ to check if it was valid, and share this with the tenant
Also check the gov guidance - again this specifies the docs do need to be served but says nothing about the docs having to be attached to the s21 forms
Giving notice of possession to tenants before 1 May 2026 - GOV.UK Giving notice of possession to tenants before 1 May 2026 - GOV.UK
And the guidance from citizens advice
If you get a ‘section 21’ eviction notice from a private landlord - Citizens Advice If you get a ‘section 21’ eviction notice from a private landlord - Citizens Advice
And shelter
None of these say anything other than that the docs need to have been served prior to the s21. Nothing about attaching copies to the s21 form
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well there’s an exception to this: the How to Rent leaflet.
You haven’t told us when the tenancy started nor when the fixed term finished. If your AST started as a contractural periodic tenancy and then changed to a statutory periodic tenancy when the fixed term ended (the AST will state this) and the govt issued a new How to Rent leaflet between the date the fixed term started and it ended, you’ll have needed to serve the updated How to Rent at the start of the SPT.
It’s a bit of an edge case but it’s possible.
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@tatemono But that’s not the same as having to attach anything to the s21 forms which is what tenant is claiming is needed for s21 to be valid
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you said it yourself. If the HtR guide wasn’t served at the start of the SPT then… well, let the judge decide.
Typically it was recommended to reserve all docs along with S21 as a way of making sure every bit of paperwork was up to date. The T has probably assumed that this recommendation is a requirement. It’s not, it’s just a failsafe.
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@tatemono fortunately Openrent keeps a copy of the email sent (covers prescribed docs how to rent and other docs made available like epc).and puts a copy ‘copy of email how to rent guide served’ pdf in the 'manage documents ’ area.
@Amal8 can supply a copy of this pdf to the court and to the tenant as evidence.
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Did OR serve the HtR guide in the case of my example?
@tatemono we don’t know when @Amal8 's tenancy started or if it fits your example. Last update to the how to rent guide was oct 2023.
No idea if OR will have sent out the updated HtR guide tbh. As you imply easily rectified by sending the updated alongside the s21 documentation if not
(@Amal8 check! )
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OR AST Contracts went from AST to CPT, so I re-service of How to rent guide not required.
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this is about a S21 which was issued for an AST pre-RRA
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@David240 How can you give both my msg and Karl’s a thumbs up when they contradict each other. We can’t both be right! 
I give people thumbs up for taking the time to give their advice - doesn’t meant I necessarily either support or agree with it (or know that it is either right or wrong)
And if one person gives advice then someone else corrects or clarifies it both have contributed
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somehow felt obligated to give you a thumbs up for that 
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Thank you. They moved in July 2024.
You’re sorted then.
Tell the T that you are not aware of any requirement for this, but if they think it is a requirement, ask them to provide some proof. Should keep them busy…
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