Section 21 being served.

dancingfairy

texting the landlord out of his 'business hours' is hardly a crime is it? He should have just ignored it and leftit until morning or turned his phone offor even explained to you at the start of the tenancy that his business hours were x,y,z and not to contact you outside of these hours unless the placewas on fireorsomething if it was that important to him.
Having saidthat texting the handyman probably wasn't the wisestof moves. It kind of lookslike you're causing trouble and going behind the landlords back. Again though, this is hardly a major crime and really didn't warrant him ranting and raving at you but combined with the other issues probably caused the landlord to want to rely onthe S21. That being said he still has to serve it correctly and abide by the law. It sounds like him and his handyman arn't really up to the business of student lettings if they react like they have.
df

G_M

cgrayx wrote: »

I apparently signed the S21 when I moved in (I did, I remember now)- any ideas what to do now guys?

What does this mean in terms of moving out? Does this actually mean I have to leave on 31st December then as requested

Please tell us exactly when you were served/signed this S21?

a) Was it at same time as you signed the tenancy agreement? Before? After?
b) Did you pay a deposit? Has it been registered? Have you received the 'prescribed information' about deposit registration?
c) was the S21 given to you before, or after, the deposit was registered?
d) was the S21 given to you before, or after, the you received the 'prescribed information' regarding the deposit registration?
e) what dates were on the S21 you were given/signed?

All the above questions are VERY relevant, as to whether the S21 is valid or not.

dancingfairy

Hmmm. Not sure onthe fact he has locked you out of the lounge either-I guess you are all on individual tenancy agreements and that you live in a HMO?
I do hope he's registerd for council tax, got the right certificates for it being an HMO, informed the tax man,oh and got permission from his mortgage lenders otheriwse you could well cause him a few headaches on your departure. I hope he's got his gas safety certificate sorted as well. You can always choose to report him to the relevant authorities for any/all breaches.
I still would get some outside help and advice from CAB/Shelter/local law centre etc. Whilst I have nodoubt that what people are telling you is probably correct it might be useful to have someone trying to mediate and remind him of his legal obligations.
df

cgrayx

Regrettably, I signed the tenancy agreement a few months after I paid the deposit - I kept forgetting to send it off. I also signed the S21 at the same time as the tenancy I think. The deposit was long registered by this point, so the S21 should be valid, sadly.

@anselld - Can you explain why this is the case? Why is it irrelevant? Surely it just means he can start court proceedings now?

@dancingfairy - in regards to the handyman, we were told to contact him in case of problem, not landlord. Obviously however, that doesn't mean out-of-hours and he took it very harshly with a lot of 'f*ing' and blinding, which I kind of understand

anselld

cgrayx wrote: »

@anselld - Can you explain why this is the case? Why is it irrelevant? Surely it just means he can start court proceedings now?

Because you said it was an AST for the period Sept to June so the fixed term has not expired.

Even if there is a break clause (I don't think you have confirmed this or not) it would not be enforceable within the first six months.

The only way you can be legally evicted earlier in the fixed term is through a gross breach of tenancy which would be via S8 notice and again court proceedings, but this is completely different to S21 .

cgrayx

I've got the agreement infront of me it says it is an AST, fixed term of 10 months. I cannot remember if there was a break clause. Do you know what law this will be contained in/where abouts so I can direct it his way? Or will he just find a way of getting me out before 31st Dec do you think

G_M

The dates on the original S21 Notice should say the LL may seek possession after June 6th

(though as I said earlier, please check/confirm the dates on your tenancy agreement).

So the S21 cannot be actioned till June 6th. If the date on the original S21 showed an expiry date earlier than the end of the fixed term (june 6th) it is invalid.

cgrayx

Ok, I don't know what to do with this information now - because if I tell him is he going to serve me a new S21?

I'm just looking at the termination portion of the agreement now and it does say "If the tenancy is a fixed term tenancy, the landlord may serve on the tenant at least 2 monthsnotice in writing under section 21'.

So what do you think I should do with this info?

I might wait til he sends the S21, look at it and then quote this which I found online as well as what you have said:

'However, landlords cannot obtain a possession order to evict before 6 months
are up and the fixed-term has ended, unless the tenant breaches the terms of the tenancy.
In this latter case, breach of the tenancy during the fixed-term requires a Section 8 Notice
followed by court proceedings, based on one or more of the Grounds for Possession
under section 8. (See Notes on Serving a Section 8 Notice)'

anselld

Look, I know you are stressed, but slow down and read this whole thing again. He can serve as many s21 as he likes, they might even be valid, but they cannot be used to terminate a tenancy four months into the fixed term.

Follow the advice already given (on Monday) to contact the Council TRO and University housing support.

cgrayx

Ok, thanks. You are right, I'm extremely agitated and stressed. So just to conclude: The S21 isn't valid for anything other than evicting someone after 6 months, it cannot be used to kick me out. He would have to obtain an S8 which, presumably, would be based on the parrts of my tenancy agreement I broke?

Does anyone know how long this process takes (him filling in S8 for broken agreements etc) cus thats the only way he can get me out apart from waiting the two months til S21 's over isn't it?

Hopefully I'll have a place by then anyway,

Thanks for your help guys.

I will be contacting COuncil/Uni/Shelter or someone Monday.