• Home
  • About
  • Clinic
  • Training
  • Tenants
  • Landlord Law

The Landlord Law Blog

From landlord and tenant lawyer Tessa Shepperson

  • Home
  • Posts
  • News & comment
  • Cases
  • Tenants
    • The Renters Guide Website
    • 15 Places for tenant help
  • Clinic
  • Series
    • Analysis
    • should law and justice be free
    • HMO Basics
    • Tenancy Agreements 33 days
    • Airbnb
    • Grounds for Eviction
    • Tips

Three misunderstanding about tenants rights when a section 21 notice is served on them

May 16, 2013 by Tessa J Shepperson

Section 21 noticeThere are quite a few misunderstandings about tenants rights and what tenants are or are not entitled to do when a section 21 notice is served on them.

Here are the three most common ones:

1. The section 21 notice will end the tenancy

Actually it doesn’t.  The tenancy will carry on after the expiry of the notice.

What the notice means is that if the landlord then goes to court, the Judge MUST (assuming the paperwork is correct) grant an order for possession.

2. The tenant must move out at the end of the notice period

No!  The tenant has the right to stay in the property until evicted by the court.

The Protection from Eviction Act 1977 makes it clear that tenants can only be evicted after a court order for possession has been granted AND only by the court bailiffs (ie if the tenants fail to move out voluntarily).

So they do not have to move out.

3. The tenant does not have to carry on paying rent

This is rather an optimistic view held by some tenants which is COMPLETELY unfounded. Of course tenants must pay their rent!

The fact that that landlord has asked them to leave does not mean that they are suddenly entitled to live in the property rent free.

So what should a tenant do if they have a section 21 notice served on them?

  • Check to see if their deposit has been protected – if it has not, the notice will probably be invalid
  • Speak to the landlord.  Does the landlord actually want you to go?  Often these notices are served as a precautionary measure and the landlord does not actually want the tenants to leave
  • Get legal advice.  If the notice is incorrectly drafted it will probably be invalid
  • If the landlord has confirmed he wants you to go and if the notice is correctly drafted – start looking for somewhere else to live.  Or if you are eligible for re-housing – speak to the homelessness officer at your Local Authority.

Note that if your landlord has actually issued possession proceedings – you may find my guide here helpful.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: Tips for tenants Tagged With: notice, Section 21

Scroll down for the comments

IMPORTANT: Please check the date of the post above - remember, if it is an old post, the law may have changed since it was written.

You should always get independent legal advice before taking any action.

Notes on comments:

For personal landlord and tenant related problems, please use our >> Blog Clinic.
Note that we do not publish all comments, please >> click here to read our terms of use and comments policy. Comments close after three months.

Keep up with the news on Landlord Law blog!

To get posts sent direct to your email in box click here

About Tessa J Shepperson

Tessa is a specialist landlord & tenant lawyer and the creator of this site! She is a director of Landlord Law Services which runs Landlord Law and Easy Law Training.

« Resolving tenancy deposit non protection issues – interpreting the law
Ben's Public Eye #1 »

“Interesting posts on residential landlord & tenant law and practice - in England & Wales UK”

Subscribe to the Landlord Law Blog by email

Never miss another post!

Sign up to our
>> daily updates

If you are new to the blog >> click here

Get Your Free Ebook:

Click to get your Free Ebook

>> Click Here for Your Free Copy

Featured Post

Tessa Shepperson

Why you need and how to get proper legal advice on landlord and tenant issues

Tessa’s Podcast

The Landlord and Lawyer Podcast

Worried about Insurance?

Landlord Law Insurance Mini-Course

Disclaimer

The purpose of this blog is to provide information, comment and discussion.

Although Tessa, or guest bloggers, may from time to time, give helpful comments to readers' questions, these can only be based on the information given by the reader in his or her comment, which may not contain all material facts.

Any comments or suggestions provided by Tessa or any guest bloggers should not, therefore be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice from a qualified lawyer regarding any actual legal issue or dispute.

Nothing on this website should be construed as legal advice or perceived as creating a lawyer-client relationship (apart from the Fast Track block clinic service - so far as the questioners only are concerned).

Please also note that any opinion expressed by a guest blogger is his or hers alone, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tessa Shepperson, or the other writers on this blog.

Cookies

You can find out more about our use of 'cookies' on this website here.

Associated sites

Landlord Law Services
The Renters Guide
Eco Landlords
Your Law Store

Legal

Landlord Law Blog is © 2006 – 2021 Tessa Shepperson.

Note that Tessa is an introducer for Alan Boswell Insurance Brokers and will get a commission from sales made via links on this website.

© 2006–2022 Tessa Shepperson | Rainmaker Platform | Contact Page | Privacy | Log in

This website or its third-party tools use cookies which are necessary to its functioning and required to improve your experience. By clicking the consent button, you agree to allow the site to use, collect and/or store cookies.
I accept