Section 21(b) Notice

A Section 21(1)(b) Notice Requiring Possession is a legal document used by a Landlord in cases where he wishes to enforce his rights under the Housing Act 1988 and obtain repossession of his Premises at the end of a tenancy.

This Notice may only be used for an Assured Shorthold Tenancy in cases where the tenancy is a fixed term tenancy as opposed to a periodic tenancy. A fixed term tenancy is where the tenancy is granted for a specific length of time, e.g. 12 months. A periodic tenancy is where there is no specified length of time involved but the tenancy will carry on for additional specific periods, usually determined by the frequency of rental payments, e.g. monthly or quarterly. A fixed term tenancy will automatically turn into a periodic tenancy once the specific length of time has expired, unless the parties reach a new agreement or terminate the tenancy.

The Landlord must give the Tenant(s) a minimum of 2 months notice and the Notice must be served on the Tenant(s) at any time during the fixed term. The Notice may not be served before the fixed term begins. Where the Notice is served on the last day of the fixed term, the Tenant(s) are still entitled to 2 months notice and therefore the Landlord will only be entitled to regain possession 2 months after the fixed term tenancy agreement has expired. Should the Landlord wish the Tenant to leave on the last day of the specified period, the Landlord should serve the Notice 2 months before this date. Where The Tenant(s) are still in the initial 6 months of a fixed term tenancy, the Notice may not expire before the end of that 6 month period. Where the Notice is served during a fixed term tenancy but is only due to expire once the tenancy has become a periodic tenancy, Notice must still be served as per the fixed term tenancy.

For example, if the period of the tenancy is 12 months and the first day of the period is 1 January then the last day of that period will be 31 December and so the Notice should be served 2 months prior to 31 December, i.e. on or before 1 November. Where there is a 6 month break clause in the tenancy agreement, the Notice may be served anytime after 1 January but before 30 April allowing for 2 months notice. The Tenant(s) will only be required to leave on 1 July in these circumstances.

It is crucial that the Tenant(s) be given a minimum notice period of 2 months and one should rather err on the side of caution and provide more notice than risk the Notice becoming invalid due to lack of sufficient notice.