Here is a question to the blog clinic from James who is a landlord
Can I serve a section 21(1)(b) and a Section 21(4) in the same notice to cover all eventualities?
Thanks
Answer:
Yes you can. I have a combined form which I and my Landlord Law members have been using for years.
The form has a saving clause which means that if you put the wrong date on the notice it will ‘self correct’.
If is now available free of charge in my Landlord Law Store free Content Library and you can find out more here. Guidance is also provided on completing the form and service.
NB When you join the content library you will also get access to my free 12 part ecourse for landlords, a guide for landlords with tenants in arrears of rent and the podcast archive.
Wouldn’t it make the section 21 invalid, however, if I were to put the word “after” on the notice for a section 21(1)(b)? So I’m wondering if a section 21(1)(b) and a Section 21(4) with the word “after” is the right way to go.
You need to have the word ‘after’ on the notice as that is the word used in the statute – although there is a case which says it is not fatal if you don’t.
Our notice has been used for many years and has been accepted by Judges all over the country.
The problem with this question and the follow ups is that is sort of assumes that there is such a thing as a section 21 notice. There is not really. The Housing Act 1988 merely says that a court can give an order for possession if a notification complying with section 21 has been given. There is no statutory form of notice (unlike section 8) so a notification could be given which complied with both the requirements of s21(1)(b) and s21(4)(a). The issue of after was pretty comprehensively dismissed by the Court of Appeal in Notting Hill Housing Trust v Roomus.
The general trajectory of the appeal courts on section 21 has been towards a far less restrictive interpretation recently.
I was under the impression that you couldn’t use the word “after” for a section 21(1)(b) only in a periodic tenancy which is section 21(4). Am I wrong?
You CAN use the word after – for example it is on all our forms, as ours is a combined form.
As David said, there is no ‘prescribed’ format, you just need to make sure that your form complies with the requirements for your situation. Nowhere does s21 say or imply that the word ‘after’ should not be used.