Changes to notice periods for landlords

News at Howard Independent Estate Agents | 12/05/2021

The UK Government has announced that from 1 June 2021, the six month notice period in England will be reduced to four months.

The current ban on bailiff-enforced evictions, introduced as an emergency measure during lockdown, will end on 31 May. As part of a phased approach through Step 3 and Step 4 of the Roadmap, notice periods are being reduced, apart from the most serious cases, which remain lower:

anti-social behaviour (immediate to 4 weeks’ notice)
domestic abuse in the social sector (2 to 4 weeks’ notice)
false statement (2 to 4 weeks’ notice)
over 4 months’ accumulated rent arrears (4 weeks’ notice)
breach of immigration rules ‘Right to Rent (2 weeks’ notice)
death of a tenant (2 months’ notice)

Assured Tenancy Form 6a has been updated to reflect the new 4 month notice period and must now be used in order to gain possession under Section 21 of the Housing Act. Failure to serve the correct form may lead to processes being invalidated.

Subject to the public health advice and progress with the Roadmap, notice periods will return to pre-pandemic levels from 1 October 2021.

The full govenrment announcement can be found here

Howard Estate Agents