Section
21 Notice
Regaining Possession of Housing Act 1988 Tenancies - Assured Shorthold
Tenancies
Assured Tenancies
and assured shorthold tenancies ASTs under the Housing Act 1988
have their own rules for regaining possession.
Assured Shorthold
Tenancies (ASTs) - Servicing Notice
ASTs possession
can be gained in exactly the sam way as for assured tenancies, i.e.
by
- Serving a
section 8 notice and
- Proving one or more grounds for possession under schedule 2 of
the Housing Act 1988
If a tenant
breaches their tenancy agreement by not paying their rent, the landlord
can serve a section 8 notice under the Housing Act 1988. the relevant
grounds to be cited are 8, 10 and 11. contained in schedule 2 of
the
This method
must be used if possession is needed within
- The fixed
term of the tenancy or
- The first 6 months of a periodic tenancy.
Section 21
Notice
The advantage
of a AST to a landlord is that at the end of the term (or at any
time during a periodic tenancy after teh first 6 months protected
period) they only need to serve notice under section 21 of the housing
act 1988 and do not need to give any reason for needing possession.
If the tenant doesn't leave the landlord stil has to go to court
but the court must give possession.
There is no
set form for the section 21 notice however a section 21 notice must;
- Be in writing
(housing act 1996, section 98)
- Warn the tenant that a court order is neeed to enforce possession
There are two
secion 21 notices one for fixed terms AST's and for Periodic Tenancies,
each needing at least two montsh notic but the two months is calculated
slightly differently depending on when notice is served.
Serving notice
within the fixed term
Within the fixed
term a notice under section 21(1)(b) is served, this can
be served at anytime within the fixed term and will end two months
later.
i.e. if a tenancy
is granted for 6 months on may 6th, it will end on 5th Novemeber.
The section 21 notice can be served at any time within this 6 month
period but cant end before he end of the six months
Example 1
If the notice
is served on 21st June (four and a half months before the end of
the fixed period) it will end on 5th November (the last day of the
fixed period)
Example 2
If the section
21 was served on 20th October (two weeks before the end of the tenancy)
it will end on the 19th December (i.e. two months later)
Se also Section 8 Notice
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