The End Of No-Fault Evictions

What is a s.21 notice? Most experienced landlords and regular tenants will be familiar with the s.21 notice (defined below).

The s.21 notice is often used by landlords together with, or instead of, its counterpart the s.8 notice (defined below), because it offers landlords a potentially quicker and more certain route to getting possession of their property. In particular, there are less defences a tenant can use to oppose eviction and the landlord can use an accelerated court procedure (possibly without a court hearing), keeping the duration and the costs of any potential legal claim to a minimum.

To many landlords the s.21 notice is therefore a preferred way of taking back possession of a property from a tenant, even if the counterpart s.8 notice procedure is both available and suitable.

The end of s.21 notices

On 15 April 2019, the then government announced the end of s.21 notices, stating that: "private landlords will no longer be able to evict tenants from their homes at short notice and without good reason". The rationale behind the change includes the government's desire to achieve the following aims:

• Reducing the cost to tenants who would incur moving expenses, through no fault of their own;

• Encouraging tenants to challenge landlord practices, who otherwise may not do so, for fear of being met by an eviction for that challenge; and

• Reducing the insecurity that a potential no-fault eviction creates, and in particular for children attending local schools or employees working within the locale of their employment.

On 16 June 2022 the government published its policy/white paper (titled: a fairer private rented sector), outlining its intended abolishment of 'no fault evictions as part of it 12-point plan to reform the private renting sector. It is not yet clear how the s.21 notice procedure will be repealed, or if it will be replaced by any other mechanisms for bringing about the end of the tenancy. However, the government's desired outcome is that "a tenancy will only end if the tenant ends it or if the landlord has a valid ground for possession, empowering tenants to challenge poor practice and reducing the costs associated with unexpected moves."

Together with the promise to abolish the s.21 notice procedure, the government have announced additional reforms to the eviction rules including reforms to the grounds for possession. One such reform to be introduced is that landlords will soon be able to evict a tenant if they go into serious arrears on a regular basis (i.e. they go at least two months into arrears three times within a period of three years).

What this means for the future

Whilst the awaited government reforms aim to afford tenants greater protection, it remains to be seen whether it will be successful in practice. The response to the reforms have so far been divided, with the National Residential Landlords Association arguing that a reformed and improved court system should be introduced before s.21 is abolished.

Although the reforms provide tenants directly with greater protection from eviction, there is likely to be indirect negative consequences as concerned Landlords seek to cover their additional risk by:

• Moving away from offering social housing, thereby reducing the amount of social housing available in the rental sector;

• Being more selective when taking on new tenants (in particular, ensuring that any tenants have sufficient means from which legal costs or arrears can be recovered), making it more difficult for those without savings or assets to secure a new tenancy;

• Requiring a guarantor; or

• Simply increasing the rent, if they are not able to evict a tenant that they no longer consider desirable to keep occupying the property.

Further announcements are expected, to allow these changes to be brought into effect.

How we can help

Whether you are facing a claim for possession of a property, or need advice on your rights and obligations, our solicitors are ready to advise on a wide array of landlord and tenant related issues. Contact us now for a free no-obligation consultation to see how we can help.

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Glossary

S.8 Notice: A type of notice provided by s.8 of the Housing Act 1988 that allows an assured shorthold tenancy agreement to be brought to an end, and for a landlord to recover possession of a property before the end of the term of a tenancy, provided one of a number of grounds are satisfied (e.g. that rent is in arrears by a specified amount, the tenant has committed a breach of another term of the tenancy agreement, etc). Some of the ground that a landlord can use to request an eviction using a s.8 notice are up to the court's discretion, meaning that the Court may order the tenant to leave the property, but it does not have to.

S.21 Notice: A type of notice provided by s.21 of the Housing Act 1988 that allows an assured shorthold tenancy agreement to be brought to an end, and for a landlord to recover possession of a property after the term of the tenancy agreement has ended, because the term of the tenancy agreement has expired. The landlord simply needs to comply with their usual obligations and give the tenants adequate notice (usually 2 months).