Section 21 Issued

danno531

Hi Folks,

I need a little help on where my family and I sit from a legal perspective. We have been tenants in the same property for over 10 years, and on the at the beginning of September had a call from my landlord, who we know quite well, informing us that he was retiring and wanted his home back. He said that he would give us two months notice, and that the letting agency would be in touch.

A further month and a half past and not notice appeared, in the meantime we have been looking for a property and thankfully found one to purchase, but that is taking time.

I called the landlord last week to let him know that we are looking for somewhere, but that we hadn't received anything from the lettings agent thus far.

He said he would call them and get back to me.

I then had a voicemail, from the lettings agent asking me to call her, which I did.

She said that she had sent out a section 2 by first class mail on the 15th September, and emailed the same to my myself and my wife.

I said no letter had arrived (which it hadn't and no email either) I asked to check the email address that she had on file for us and found out both were incorrect.

She then said she would send another section 21 out via registered post, to which I agreed.

However when the section 21 arrived on the 16/10/15 it runs from the dates of the original version that was 'supposedly' sent out.

where do we stand? as a family we want to be out of this place asap, and into our new home, but with 2 small kids, I'm not going anywhere until our purchase completes.

Any advice?

G_M

Make detailed notes about the date/time of your conversation, with who, what was said.

That forms the basis of your claim that the original S21 was wrongly addressed and therefore invalid - just in case they later claim a vaid one was sent on 15th sept.

The new one is invalid as the dates are wrong. It appears to be simply a copy of the original 'for information only', and hence my concern they may try to rely on the original wrongly addressed one.

Having said all that, far better to deal with this informally. Ring your LL again, with whom you seem to have a good relationship, and simpy agree a mutually convenient date for the tenancy to end.

then get that confirmed in writing, either by him or his agent.

Innys1

Sounds to me like the S21 was incorrectly served.

The fact that you have lived at the same address for 10yrs and you didn't get the original leads me to believe the agent screwed up.

danno531

The agent may well have sent, as we have had post go missing to this address all the time, but it wasn't sent by recorded delivery etc, which if I were sending something that important it definatly would be! I still haven't had email through, having spelt our emails over the phone to the agent.

Im just unsure about what to do, in reality I think us being able to purchase the new house, and move out with in 1 month is slim to none.

Pixie5740

How long do you realistically think it will take to complete the purchase of your new home? If you think it will only take a couple of months then talk with your landlord. The Section 21 doesn't sound as though it was served until 16th October unless the letting agency can provide proof of postage for the original Section 21 issued previously (£5 says they can't because they never sent it).

The Section 21 should give you 2 months notice, then there's court and bailiffs before you actually need to leave the property. You don't want than and your landlord doesn't want that. So if you think your purchase will complete faster than going through all that hoopla it would be easier for you and your landlord to come to an agreement where you stay put until completion.

If you think that your house purchase will take a lot longer than that find somewhere with a 6 month AST and move. Otherwise you could end up having to find somewhere else to live just for a couple of months further down the line which will be difficult unless you can face paying both rent and a mortgage for months.

danno531

Thanks for all the advice. Hopefully our purchase will run smoothly, the property is vacant, so we can just move straight in. Other than that do i ask the lettings agents reissue, over just sit tight, until I have a completion date its really hard to know how far to go, I don't want to cause trouble for the landlord or myself.

Miss_Samantha

Hi Danno,

If the agent can prove that he sent the first notice by first class post it will likely be deemed served. The emails are a red herring.

In any case, if you do intend to leave and have a good relation with your landlord then you should get to an agreement with him to surrender the tenancy when you are ready to move (and/or to give notice to quit at exchange)

danno531

Just out of interest, since first class isn't tracked how could the agent prove they sent it?

HappyMJ

danno531 wrote: »

Just out of interest, since first class isn't tracked how could the agent prove they sent it?

Proof of postage from the post office. It's not proof of delivery.

G_M

danno531 wrote: »

The agent may well have sent, as we have had post go missing to this address all the time, but it wasn't sent by recorded delivery etc, which if I were sending something that important it definatly would be! I still haven't had email through, having spelt our emails over the phone to the agent.

I thought you said they used the wrong address:

I said no letter had arrived (which it hadn't and no email either) I asked to check the email address that she had on file for us and found out both were incorrect.

???

It does not have to be sent recorded delivery. Indeed, if you were on holiday, or just refused to sign, it would not be delivered.

The courts accept that 1st class post is delieverd 2 postal days after posting. To be safe, advice to both LL/agents and tenants sending legal notices is to ask the post office for "proof of posting", however this is not a legal requirement, just a sensible precaution, since it proves that a letter was posted to that address on that date.

danno531

My bad, I meant both emails were incorrect. Not the address, that was correct, on the 1st S21 that never arrived...