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Deal with a Section 21 Eviction Notice

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Deal with a Section 21 Eviction Notice How to Deal with a section 21 eviction notice Making sense of the law and your rights Introduction Has your landlord or their agent sent you an eviction notice telling you to leave your home? If this happens to you and you rent from a private landlord and the property you rent is somewhere in England, then this guide is for you. This guide: • explains what the notice really means, • explains when and why you may be able to challenge the notice and your landlord’s claim for a possession order, and • helps you work out your options and decide what to do next. First off – you may be feeling stressed or anxious, but try not to panic. Perhaps a friend, neighbour or family member can sit and read this guide with you. You may want to read it through more than once as you think about your options and decide what to do. 2 How to deal with a section 21 eviction notice • www.advicenow.org.uk Contents Tenancies 4 What is a section 21 notice? 5 What does a section 21 notice look like? 6 What getting a section 21 notice means 7 for you What do you want to do? 8 Pros and cons of challenging a claim for 9 a possession order Reasons you may be able to challenge 10 your landlord’s claim for a possession order How to challenge your landlord’s claim 15 for a possession order Getting legal advice 17 Further help 18 What does it mean? 19 How to deal with a section 21 eviction notice • www.advicenow.org.uk 3 Tenancies Tenancies A ‘tenancy’ or a ‘tenancy agreement’ is If you rent from a private landlord (not the same thing – a contract between you the Council or a Housing Association) and your landlord which sets out the you will probably have a particular kind basis on which you are allowed to live in of tenancy called an assured shorthold the property you rent. A contract doesn’t tenancy. The information in this guide always have to be in writing to count as only applies to you if your tenancy is an a contract – but a tenancy or tenancy assured shorthold tenancy. If you’re not agreement usually will be. If you are sure what type of tenancy you have, you living somewhere and paying rent you can search online for Shelter’s Tenancy definitely have an agreement whether Rights Checker to find out. or not there is anything in writing, and the agreement is probably a tenancy agreement. 4 How to deal with a section 21 eviction notice • www.advicenow.org.uk What is a section 21 notice? What is a section 21 notice? If you have an assured shorthold Using a section 21 notice means a tenancy, then a section 21 notice is the landlord doesn’t have to give any reason most common way of starting the for asking you to leave. And they can use eviction process. Giving you notice is a speedy route (lawyers and courts call how your landlord tells you that they it the ‘accelerated possession procedure’) want you to leave their property and to get a possession order that won’t the date they want you to leave by. normally involve a court hearing, if you A section 21 notice gets its name from don’t leave their property by the date given in the section 21 notice. the section of the Act of Parliament that created it. You may also hear it A possession order is an order made by called an ‘eviction notice’, a ‘notice to a court ordering a tenant to leave their quit’ or a ‘notice seeking possession’. landlord’s property on a particular date. How to deal with a section 21 eviction notice • www.advicenow.org.uk 5 What does a section 21 notice look like? The section 21 notice you get may look If it doesn’t, then your landlord hasn’t different depending on when your used the correct notice and you can tenancy started. challenge their right to get a possession What does order. a section 21 If your tenancy began or was renewed notice look on or after 1st October 2015, the section Even if your tenancy began before like? 21 notice you get must look like the one 1st October 2015, it is likely that your in this link: https://www.gov.uk/ landlord has to use this form. guidance/assured-tenancy- forms#form-6a 6 How to deal with a section 21 eviction notice • www.advicenow.org.uk What getting a section 21 notice means for you Giving or sending you a section 21 notice just means that your landlord has the right to go to court and ask for a possession order 1 if you don’t leave their property by the date given in the notice. Getting a section 21 notice doesn’t mean you have to move out straight away. 2 What If there is any chance that your local council will find you somewhere to getting a live, you must not move out before you are evicted or until the council section 21 offers you housing. If you think this applies to you, tell your council that notice you’ve had a Section 21 notice straight away. Ask to speak to someone means for in the housing department who deals with homelessness. you In practice most tenants who can’t get help from their council make arrangements to leave by the date given in the notice. If you don’t and your landlord has to go to court to get you out, the court will order you to pay your landlord’s legal costs. Getting a section 21 notice doesn’t mean you have done 3 anything wrong. You may have been the perfect tenant and paid your rent on time but section 21 allows your landlord to evict you without having to give a reason. Getting a section 21 notice doesn’t end your tenancy. 4 Your tenancy carries on until you leave voluntarily or you are evicted by the court. Getting a section 21 notice doesn’t mean you can stop paying 5 your rent. Your landlord is still entitled to the rent and you should carry on paying it until the day you leave the property. If you don’t, your landlord is unlikely to give you a positive reference and you might need this in the future to get another home. Your landlord can also take court action against you to get back any rent you owe them. How to deal with a section 21 eviction notice • www.advicenow.org.uk 7 What do you want to do? • Do you want to leave or would you like to stay on in the property if you can? If you’d like to stay on, talk to your landlord – calmly and politely. Do they actually want you to leave? Sometimes landlords send a section 21 notice just in case, so that they can go to court straight away at the end of axed term tenancy without having to wait, if they decide that is what they want then. They may not have decided that they will denitely do that when the time comes. • Conrm what you are told or agree What do with your landlord or their agent in you want writing – by email or letter and keep to do? a copy. • Do you just want to look for somewhere else to live and move out • Do you want to challenge the by the deadline? If so, there’s no section 21 notice? If you think you need to panic because you have want to do this: 2 months before you need to leave — Weigh up the pros and cons of and even then you don’t actually challenging your landlord’s claim have to leave until your landlord gets for a possession order. See a possession order and you are Pros and cons of challenging a evicted by the court bailiffs. If there is claim for a possession order any chance that your local council on page 9. will find you somewhere to live you must not move out until eviction or — Read the section 21 notice the council re-houses you. Talk to carefully to check for mistakes your local council – ask to speak to (the law calls these ‘defects’). someone in the housing department Are they serious enough to who deals with homelessness mean that you may be able to and find out if you are eligible for challenge the notice if your re-housing by them. landlord applies for a possession order? See Reasons you may • If you find somewhere to live but be able to challenge your can’t move in until sometime after landlord’s claim for a the section 21 notice date runs out, possession order on page 10. ask your landlord if you can stay on for a bit. Occasionally a landlord may — Get some legal advice to help agree to this. Confirm anything you you decide whether or not to agree with your landlord or their challenge your section 21 notice agent in writing – by email or letter and your landlord’s claim for a and keep a copy. possession order. See Getting legal advice on page 17. 8 How to deal with a section 21 eviction notice • www.advicenow.org.uk Pros and cons of challenging a claim for a possession order Pros 4 Cons 7 You may be able to delay the Unless you are successful, the eviction and ask to stay in the court will order you to pay the property a bit longer.
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