On the 30th August 2024 the BBC ran a news story, (link to the story can be found at the bottom of this article) on Jas Athwal, a newly elected Labour MP for Ilford South, who owns 15 rental flats, making him the biggest landlord in the House of Commons.      In addition to Mr Athwal admitting to not having the correctly property licenses required under a scheme that he introduced as Redbridge Council leader more shocking was the conditions of the property.    

In one block of seven flats owned by Mr Athwal nearly half the tenants said they had to regularly clean their bathroom ceilings to remove mould.   In addition, there was evidence of ant infestations in a number of the seven properties. 

Mr Athwal said he was “shocked” and “profoundly sorry” to hear of residents’ issues, which he had not been aware of due to the properties being managed by an agency, and promised repairs and maintenance will be completed “swiftly”. 

Another resident said they had been threatened with eviction by the letting agent if they complained about problems in their flat or started claiming benefits.   Unfortunately, this is all too common a problem with private landlords.   At Astraea Linskills we hear this time and time again about how the threat of eviction is used to excuse landlord’s carrying out their repairing obligations.  We often find that if a tenant attempts to bring a claim for housing disrepair, they will be served with a Section 21 Notice. 

What is a Section 21 Notice? 

A Section 21 Notice starts the legal process to end an assured shorthold tenancy.  Your landlord or agent can you give a Section 21 Notice during either : 

• Rolling periodic tenancy 

• Fixed term contract if there’s a break clause  

The notice gives you a date for you to leave your notice.  The date must be at least 2 months after your landlord gives you the notice.   

Sometimes a landlord may want to evict a tenant because they have broken the terms of their contact by failing to pay their rent, this would be deemed to be the tenant’s fault.  However, a Section 21 Notice is issued when no-one is at fault.  No reason needs to be given and are therefore referred to as “no fault” evictions.  

Is your Section 21 Notice Valid? 

Receiving a Section 21 Notice can be daunting but it’s important that you are fully aware of your rights. 

Your section 21 notice must be on Form 6A.   In order to obtain a Section 21 Notice, the landlord must ensure that they fulfil certain criteria with regards to the tenancy, such as ensuring the deposit is correctly protected, all relevant certificates are in place and that no tenant fees have been paid to them. 

Your notice will not be valid if: 

• the notice period is less than 2 months 

• you get the notice during the first 4 months of your original tenancy 

• your landlord applies to court more than 6 months after giving you the notice 

• if the property has been issued with an improvement notice by the council in the last six months  

The notice needs to be given in writing, and every effort should be made by the landlord to be accommodating and reasonable. Any responses should also be polite and professional. The Section 21 notice is only valid for six months after the notice has been served.  If no action has been taken in that time then another one will need to be issued. 

If the tenant refuses to leave by the specified date on a valid Section 21 Notice, the landlord can then apply to the courts to have the tenant removed. 

Tenant’s Rights and Protections 

All tenants have a right to live in a property that is in a good state of repair.    The relevant Gas Safety and Energy Performance Services should be up to date and the tenant should know who their landlord is.  

By law, your landlord is required to protect your deposit within 30 days of them receiving it. This is to stop landlords from using the deposit as their own income and to ensure that the deposit is protected and returned when your tenancy is over.    

The End of No-Fault Evictions in the UK 

The Government is set to introduce a bill in the commons next week which will ban landlords from evicting tenants without a reason.  The Renters Reform Bill which is currently making its way through Parliament will see an end to ‘no fault’ evictions.  At the heart of the bill – which is aimed at giving renters greater protections and cracking down on unscrupulous landlords is a ban on Section 21 evictions.  It is expected that Section 21 Notices will not be fully abolished until late 2025 or even early 2026.  When it is removed, landlords will only be able to remove tenants from their properties using a Section 8 notice which requires them to provide valid grounds for doing so.   This bill is long overdue.   Every tenant has the right to live in a property that is free from disrepair and to feel confident about complaining about the disrepair without fearing the threat of eviction by doing so.  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyg1j0lv1go