Section 21 Notice

[penym]

I am asking advice here for a female friend who has rented a flat in London for many years. She has been an exemplary tenant and paid her rent with no problem.

The landlord has now served a Section 21 notice saying she wishes to refurbish the property although it is in good condition. My friend thinks she is doing it to increase the rent significantly and although my friend agreed to pay at an increased rate by email, she did ask a couple of pertinent questions about dates due etc, as she was about to leave on her Christmas holiday, she did not sign the new agreement by snail mail before she left, which was unwise. However, she told me she had often signed the yearly rent agreement in early January before and it was never a problem.

My friend never mentions her age but she is a fit person who is at least over 65 and she works full time as a stylist in a top London hairdressing establishment in central London. She realises her future is uncertain as she works long hours in a full time job but will have to cut down her hours and eventually retire. She owns no property and needs to keep her flat. She has been told by the letting agent that she needs a landlords reference to get a new flat and is reluctant to wait until the court case because she would be left without a good reference from the landlord.. She has been given an extension until March 25th, but I am wondering if the particular section still applies and whether she needs to wait to be taken to court to help her case to be eligible for HA or Council housing.

I am not able to help much as I am in St Lucia until mid March, so I promised I would ask you all for advice for her.

Any help would be appreciated.

Penym

[redsturgeon]

I'm sorry to hear of your friend's predicament.

The short answer is that there is not really much she can do to stay where she is if the landlord does not want her there for whatever reason.

Here are some quick facts on section 21 from

Everything has to be served correctly for the section 21 to be valid but any small issues would just delay matters rather than prevent eviction.

This is one of the problems of renting in the private sector from the tenants point of view.



https://www.thetenantsvoice.co.uk/advic ... e-to-quit/

Fast facts
Section 21 Notice to quit is served as the first step in every eviction process. The notice gives you two months to leave, before the landlord seeks possession of the property.
Section 21 can be served without a particular reason.
Section 21 must give you two months of time since the date being served to you. It must be in writting and clear a number of requirements to be valid.
To be valid, your landlord must protect your deposit in a goverment authorised scheme and serve you prescribed information in 30 days after receiving the money. Otherwise, section 21 cannot be used and they are liable in court for failing the protection procedure.
If you’re renting on a fixed term tenancy, section 21 must respect the fixed term and end no sooner than the last day of that term.
If you’re renting on a periodic tenancy, section 21 must end on the last day of the tenancy period (e.g. the last day of the month).
When the tenancy ends, or is renewed, a new section 21 must be served.
Any spelling mistakes, or incorrectly listed names, dates and contacts will render the notice invalid. Check the spelling when you’ve been served a section 21 notice.
Tenancies started or renewed after October the 1st 2015 feature additional rules about the usage of Section 21. These cases forbid the notice to be used in the first 4 months of the tenancy. Also, section 21 cannot be used after the landlord is served with an improvement notice by the local council. (see more below)
After June 1st 2019, landlords and letting agents cannot use Section 21 notice if they hold illegally collected fees and deposits.
Under no circumstances can the landlord forcefully evict you from the property. Section 21 only grants them the authority to seek possession from the court. Only the county bailiffs can physically remove you from your home.

[GoSeigen]

I am asking advice here for a female friend who has rented a flat in London for many years. She has been an exemplary tenant and paid her rent with no problem.

The landlord has now served a Section 21 notice saying she wishes to refurbish the property although it is in good condition. My friend thinks she is doing it to increase the rent significantly and although my friend agreed to pay at an increased rate by email, she did ask a couple of pertinent questions about dates due etc, as she was about to leave on her Christmas holiday, she did not sign the new agreement by snail mail before she left, which was unwise. However, she told me she had often signed the yearly rent agreement in early January before and it was never a problem.

My friend never mentions her age but she is a fit person who is at least over 65 and she works full time as a stylist in a top London hairdressing establishment in central London. She realises her future is uncertain as she works long hours in a full time job but will have to cut down her hours and eventually retire. She owns no property and needs to keep her flat. She has been told by the letting agent that she needs a landlords reference to get a new flat and is reluctant to wait until the court case because she would be left without a good reference from the landlord.. She has been given an extension until March 25th, but I am wondering if the particular section still applies and whether she needs to wait to be taken to court to help her case to be eligible for HA or Council housing.

I am not able to help much as I am in St Lucia until mid March, so I promised I would ask you all for advice for her.

Any help would be appreciated.

Penym

First, your friend is not compelled to sign any new agreement and she is in no worse position if she does not, providing she is happy with the previous terms. It is enough for her to consent to the new rent.

Some good points in redsturgeon's reply, though quite a lot to process! Here's my summary of the situation:

-The landlord wants possession; your friend wants a good reference and somewhere to live. The landlord can only get possession by either going to court or winning the co-operation of your friend. The latter is far less trouble and expense for him. Your friend can probably find somewhere to rent in the time available (several months by the time the court has granted possession and sent the bailiffs). To get a good reference though, she will almost certainly need to leave voluntarily. That might not be on the day of the notice, but the longer she strings the landlord along the less likely he will want to give a good reference.

-There is one special circumstance that can improve your friend's position beyond the above. If she is in a fixed term contract, then she has an additional option available: on the day the s.21 notice ends (or before) she may leave the property without giving notice to the LL and without any obligation beyond paying her rent up to that particular date OR alternatively she may opt to remain in occupation. This is because the landlord's notice brings the fixed term contract to an end, while at the same time the law gives her the absolute right to remain in occupation if she wishes on a NEW periodic contract. The converse (and usual) situation would be that she is on a periodic contract, in which case she must give notice of her intention to quit (or inform the landlord of her agreement with his s.21 date) or she may be liable for rent in lieu of notice.

-With the above in mind, the best course of action would be for your friend to get cracking finding a new place to rent. In the meantime she has no obligation whatsoever to tell the landlord what she plans to do; as far as the law is concerned, she is going to remain in her flat if that is what she wants to do. Having found a suitable new place she can start to negotiate with the landlord from a real position of strength. She should tell him that she is prepared to move out on his date (or her preferred date) if he agrees to her conditions: 1. To supply good references. 2. To give a written release in advance from all her obligations (so as to derisk the inventory stage) 3. To return her deposit in cleared funds on the day she moves out, etc. If the landlord refuses this reasonable proposal she can point out that the resulting financial uncertainty may make it harder to find a new place and compel her to remain for longer. It might be a bluff but she is in a strong negotiating position.

-If she struggles to find a new place she will have to remain in the property and risk jeopardising the good reference. However a home is more important than a reference and she has every right to remain -- having a home is top priority. However, she mustn't forget to give notice as soon as she has signed an agreement to rent a new place. As time passes, she will have to communicate increasingly frequently with the landlord to keep him onside.

-If her situation becomes dire -- cannot find a new place, gets made redundant or some other disaster, then any mistakes the landlord may have made could become very useful to your firend. So she should check in advance that he has met all his legal requirements (e.g. issue of EPC, dealing correctly with deposit, etc). Any failure of the landlord to do these things means he will be compelled to issue a fresh s.21 from the moment he discovers the mistake. As such, being aware of this possibility can strengthen your friend's hand further and make the process even less stressful for her.


Sorry, long but hopefully covers some points she may not have considered.

GS

[Loup321]

I wonder if it's just a misunderstanding. By not renewing the tenancy agreement, and going onto a rolling periodic tenancy (which is perfectly within your friend's rights and makes no difference to the agreement), she has perhaps unwittingly given the landlord the impression that she is keeping her options open as she's looking to move out. Then the landlord has decided to get the ball rolling and make sure she has control over the process, rather than just letting things slip from her grasp. If there is an amicable relationship between the landlord and tenant, perhaps a chat over a coffee would get everything sorted out.

However, if there is a letting agent in between, speaking directly with the landlord is probably not possible. Letting agents seem (in my opinion) to want signed pieces of paper for every tiny unnecessary thing, becase they can charge a fee to both landlord and tenant. Not signing the tenancy renewal probably means they didn't get a fee for that, but they can get a fee for issuing a Section 21 notice. Is it too late to go back to the agents and apologise for not singing the renewal, but saying that she'd heard that going onto a rolling periodic tenancy was allowed? If she needs to sign a new agreement to stay in the flat she would be willing to?

Sorry, not a legal perspective, but I think that's mostly been covered.

[modellingman]

Just a comment on the "landlord's reference" aspect.

References are not cosy/angry letters/phone calls from the tenant's old landlord to a prospective new one. Referencing (of which a landlord's reference is part) is about establishing the risks associated with taking on a prospective new tenant. Key aspects of referencing are: current income and employment status, history of prompt payment of rent, length tenancy has been in existence, no issues in respect of causing damage to property or other unrecoverable losses caused to landlord (length of tenancy is a good indicator of this) If the property is currently being managed by an agent, it will likely be the agent rather than the landlord who will respond to any requests for references. Referencing, in the main, is about establishing factual information not least because that information often feeds into underwriting decisions on rent guarantee insurance. If your friend can demonstrate independently of the landlord that she is a good bet as a prospective tenant then she shouldn't be overly concerned about any threats of not getting a landlord's reference - that will mainly be agent's bluster trying to persuade the tenant to leave voluntarily rather than the agent having to put his client (the landlord) through the full legal process.

[AleisterCrowley]

Possibly not relevant, but I think the S21 option is going to be removed by the Government 'at some point'?
The government plans to ban no-fault evictions in England and Wales.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51508286
Perhaps the owner wants to sell up prior to the change?
( I am not a legal expert, although I did go through a S21 eviction in 2018!)

[swill453]

Possibly not relevant, but I think the S21 option is going to be removed by the Government 'at some point'?
The government plans to ban no-fault evictions in England and Wales.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51508286
Perhaps the owner wants to sell up prior to the change?
( I am not a legal expert, although I did go through a S21 eviction in 2018!)

Scotland already has something like that (always ahead of the curve). But "refurbishment" (and possibly sale) are valid exemptions I think.

Scott.