Landlords plan to serve notice ahead of Section 21 changes

Three in ten Landlords, according to research from Landlord Action, plan to serve a Section 21 notice to end their existing tenancies within the next 12 to 18 months. 

The upsurge in no fault evictions could be linked to new legislation which will make serving tenants with two month notice period by a Section 21 notice impossible. 

Government guidance indicates that instead all tenancies will revert to Statutory Periodic where, after an initial fixed term of six months, Tenants can serve two months notice to end. Landlords will still be able to gain possession under a Section 8 notice, but only under very certain circumstances. 

Paul Shamplina, founder of Landlord Action and chief commercial officer for the Hamilton Fraser Group, has been quoted today in Industry Eye saying:

“The response to our latest survey paints a very clear picture of the unintended consequences of abolishing Section 21. More than a quarter of Tenants who have or will be asked to leave their rental properties (via receipt of a Section 21 notice), are in such a position not because they have done anything wrong but because Landlords fear they will be unable to gain possession of their property easily in the future, if their circumstances change". 

OXON Property Search's John Gebbels comments: 

"We have recently spoken to a number of our Landlord acquisition clients on this subject, and of course we are not recommending that they use the opportunity to serve notice without good reason.

We anticipate that a mechanism for serving notice to tenants in circumstances where Landlords need to sell, or where a tenant is not complying with the terms of their agreement, will continue to exist.

Our clients are generally committed to Buy to Let for the long term, and enjoy providing their tenants with a long term secure tenure. For the most part the changing legislation should not therefore impact too greatly"