Section 21 Agreement

A repossession notice can be served on a tenant, by any landlord wishing to cease an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) subsequent to or on the expiry of any fixed term. To terminate an AST legally at the conclusion of the fixed term, a landlord is required by the 1988 Housing Act to give a Section 21 Agreement notice to their tenant who must give their tenant two months notice as a minimum.

If repossession is being sought by a landlord during the fixed term then this may be achieved if an infringement of the tenancy agreement has been proven and as such a notice citing section 21 agreement would not then be suitable. Under these conditions a section 8 repossession notice should be served.

Section 21 of the Housing Act, is split up into sub-sections with varying rules applicable according to whether notice is served whilst in the fixed term of a tenancy or the repossession notice is being served whilst in a statutory periodic tenancy.

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Section 21 Agreement – Notice following expiry of fixed term

Certain repossession notices apply to an AST that routinely carries on after the expiry of a fixed term and is called a statutory periodic tenancy; whereby a minimum of 2 months notice is mandatory and the day on which the notice runs has to be the final day in a tenancy period. Periodic tenancies start automatically once a previously agreed fixed term expires, with the period of the tenancy reliant on how frequently the rental payments are made. Hence if the rent is paid each month, then the tenancy period is accordingly one month.

Section 21 Agreement – Notice before conclusion of fixed term

These notices apply to fixed term ASTs where notice for repossession is given during the course of the fixed term. Notice citing this sub section can be given to tenants at any point within the fixed term of the tenancy on condition that the tenant is given a minimum of 2 months notice. This rule applies, even if the notice expires after the AST term has expired.

If the repossession notice is served on the concluding day of the AST for example, the tenant will not have to relinquish residence in the rental dwelling for at least 2 months after the day that the notice was served or on the date entered on the notice, if this is more than 2 months away.

As an example, if the period of the AST tenancy is monthly and the start day of the current period is Dec 5th then the final day of that period will be January 4th and so a notice served whilst in the existing period would need to be worked out so as to lapse on the final day of a period after another couple of months; namely March 4th.

Landlords should also be aware that where a tenant is in the first 6 months of a tenancy, then the repossession notice cannot expire before those 6 months are up.