Completing and serving a section 21 notice

A section 21 notice needs to be served at least two months before proceedings are issued. Proceedings cannot be issued before the expiry of the fixed term of the tenancy unless there is a properly drafted break clause in the agreement.

For tenancies that commenced on or after 1st October 2015 a Section 21 notice cannot be served within the first 4 months of the tenancy.

A section 21 notice needs to be served at least two months before proceedings are issued. Proceedings cannot be issued before the expiry of the fixed term of the tenancy unless there is a properly drafted break clause in the agreement.

For tenancies that commenced on or after 1st October 2015 a Section 21 notice cannot be served within the first 4 months of the tenancy.

It is important that landlords use a properly drafted Section 21 notice. For tenancies that began before 1st October 2015 landlords should use our old version section 21 notice.For tenancies that began on or after 1st October 2015 there is a new prescribed form section 21 6a that must be used. Both forms can be accessed at  www.landlords.org.uk/forms.

The section 21 notice:

• must be in writing
• must state that possession is required under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988
• must have a notice period of at least two months. If your tenancy agreement specifies it, your notice must expire on an end of a period of the tenancy, otherwise it can be a straight two months notice (allowing time for service)
• if the fixed term of the tenancy has not expired, the notice must not expire before the end of the fixed term (unless there is a properly drafted break clause in the tenancy agreement)

The notice should be served preferably by hand. Do not serve it by ordinary post because if the tenant denies having received it the landlord will not be able to prove it was delivered by the mail. Recorded or registered delivery is not always satisfactory as the tenant can refuse to accept delivery. If the landlord has to serve notice by post he should obtain a certificate of posting from the Post Office at the time the notice is sent.

The best method of service is to hand it to the tenant personally, preferably with a witness present who can write a statement of truth that they have observed the procedure. If the tenant later disputes that they were properly served with the notice this statement will provide evidence to the court.