Changes to the Section 21 Notice come into force for letting agents and landlords on Monday.
This will require all Assured Shorthold Tenancies, regardless of their start date, to comply with guidelines as to when and how a landlord can serve a Section 21 Notice, which enables them to terminate a tenancy agreement.
When issuing a Section 21 Notice, landlords and agents will now be required to use Form 6A.
The form combines the two previous types of notices into a single notice for both periodic and fixed-term tenancies.
Now the Association of Residential Letting Agents has put out a final warning that agents and landlords should stop using their existing notices next Monday.
In addition, ARLA is reminding the industry that under the Deregulation Act 2015, landlords and agents wishing to issue their tenants with a Section 21 notice should:
– ensure they have shared the ‘How To Rent’ guide with tenants;
– ensure the property has an up to date Gas Safety Certificate and the tenants have seen it;
– publish the property’s Energy Performance Certificate (except when the property isn’t required to have one);
– inform tenants which scheme their deposit is protected in;
– and where the property is licensed, provide a copy of the licence to all of the tenants.
To help members and non-members, ARLA Propertymark is offering a dedicated course on ending residential tenancies, which will aim to help letting agents understand the changes to the Section 21 notices, and what it means in practice.
“When the changes come into effect, it’s important agents are executing effective Section 21 notices when necessary. There is a legal question over whether the additional documents need to be served on pre-October 2015 tenancies, but it’s very unlikely that a judge would throw out a case on the basis that an agent has provided the tenant with too much information. A test case before the courts is probably required to determine exactly what needs to be served for these tenancies” explains David Cox, ARLA’s chief executive.
“Therefore, we think that the safest course of action for letting agents is to serve all the documentation when issuing a Section 21 notice. The Deregulation Act 2015 makes the will of Parliament clear – these documents should be served – so it’s easier to comply with the spirit of the law rather than rely on a potential legal technicality.
“These changes highlight so clearly that the current system is a mess which must be simplified and improved. We call on the government to bring forward its promised ‘Call for Evidence’ on a new Housing Court and work with us to build a system fit for today’s private rented sector.”
