UPDATE: 30.09.2015

The Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) have announed the new reguations:  The Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/1646/pdfs/uksi_20151646_en.pdf

Explanatory Note http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/1646/pdfs/uksiem_20151646_en.pdf

 These regulations apply to new Assured Shorthold tenancies from 1st October 2015, and then to all tenancies from 1st October 2018.

From October 1st: ·

• S21 notices must be in the prescribed form No. 6A
• The requirement for expiry of notice to a periodic tenant to expire on the last day of the tenancy will be removed.
• Notice cannot be served until four months from the start of the tenancy.
• S21 notices will only remain valid for 6 months after the date of service. Any possession proceedings started after that date will not be able to rely on that notice.

The changes will target retaliatory evictions, restricting the use of section 21s by landlords who have not met certain requirements:

• A S21 notice will be invalid when it is served after the tenant has complained in writing to the landlord about the conditions in the property and the landlord has not responded adequately within 14 days, and when the tenant makes a follow-up complaint to the local authority, which itself serves a ‘relevant notice’ on the landlord.
• A S21 notice cannot be served for six months after the landlord has been served with a ‘relevant notice’. Certain landlords are exempt, including housing associations.
• A S21 notice cannot be served where a landlord has failed to provide a) a gas safety certificate b) an energy performance certificate c) the most recent vesion of the government guide ‘How to rent: the checklist for renting in England’

 Downloads

Form 6a: Notice seeking possession of a property let on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy

Notes for Form 6a

Retaliatory eviction and the Deregulation Act 2015: A guidance note on the changes coming into force on 1 October 2015

How to Rent Guide- Feb 2016

22 September 2015

New regulations are underway which introduce an obligation for landlords to provide "prescribed information" to tenants. Failure to do so will mean an invalid use of Section 21 Notices - the no fault posession procedure.

The new regulations have now been published - but there is a question mark over them as the new prescribed section 21 form contains a major error.  They are working urgently to correct this and the 1 October implementation date is now in doubt.

We will update the website with more news as we have it.

For more information on the changes to Section 21 see David Smith's post on the Anthony Gold website.

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