Most tenancies these days would be classed as Assured Shorthold Tenancies. They can be used by private landlords and Housing Associations and have been around since January 1989.
According to the UK government website, if a landlord wants their tenant to leave, they must do so in a particular way.
The way in which a landlord can gain possession of a property is by serving a notice and this is called a Section 21 Notice. However, changes to this type of notice have now been introduced.
Here is a summary of what landlords now need to know.
Changes to the S21 Notice
There are now strict guidelines about how a landlord can serve Section 21 Notice to end an Assured Shorthold Tenancy.
A Section 21 Notice must now be issued by landlords and agents using a prescribed form called a Form 6A. This combines two notices that were previously in use and can be used for both fixed-term tenancies and periodic tenancies.
The Requirements of the Deregulation Act 2015
If you are looking for help with property management Cheltenham has a range of experts that can help you such as https://www.completepropertygroup.co.uk/. A competent property management expert will make sure that you stay on the right side of the Deregulation Act 2015.
This piece of legislation requires landlords to have carried out some important steps before they can serve a Section 21 notice. These include:
– Making certain that the property has a Gas Safety Certificate that covers all of the gas appliances at the property and that the tenants have a copy of it.
– Publishing the property’s Energy Performance Certificate if it is required to have one.
– Protecting the tenant’s deposit in a recognised tenancy deposit scheme and informing the tenants which one it is being held by.
– Providing a copy of any required licences (e.g. a HMO licence) to the tenants.
As a general rule, it is always best to provide too much information to the tenant rather than too little. This shows that a landlord is complying with the spirit of the law and is not just doing the bare minimum.
There are concerns that the current system is confusing for landlords and tenants alike, and there have been calls for new legislation to make the system easier to understand and fit for purpose.
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