Section 21 Question....

moneysavinmonkey

I've pretty much agreed with my landlady that we will move out on the 13th November but she is still being a bit narky with me and so I just wanted to check something incase the house we are moving too falls through and I need a backup plan.


After getting verbal notice on 13th September that the landlady wanted us out in a month we had various conversations and she eventually agreed that we could have two months. (we were on a rolling periodic tenancy after our AST expried - rent was due each month on the 28th November) She then put a proper Section 21 notice through our door on about the 18/19th September but dated it as the 13th September therefore giving us notice to leave on the 13th November.

As I understand it this is still incorrect as she should really ahve dated it the 18/19th and it should give us until the end of the rental period - the 27th November.

My question is, does this mean that this notice is actually invalid and should we want to stay on we would be entitled to do so until notice is properly served?

Thanks.

JohnInDebt

Sounds like it was incorrectly served (like most seem to be). If you wanted to be awkward you could just wait until she expects you to move out then inform her that it wasn't correctly dated and wait for another one to be served.

However unless you're buying a property you'll need the reference from the landlady and it pays to be as accomodating as possible otherwise it could cause more problems when looking for somewhere else.

BobProperty

Yes, I think it's invalid too. It should have been served before 28th September giving notice that possession was required from 28th November, (though I haven't got my notes with me so I may be a day out with either of those dates ).

Guy_Montag

Apart from the rent days, I would have thought dating it before it was served would make it invalid.

I.e. Even if your rent day had been the 13th Sept, by putting the notice through your door several days after that it would be invalid.

moneysavinmonkey

Thanks for that - agrees with what I think.

I can't proove that it was backdated (although she can't proove that it wasn't either) as she just posted it through the letterbox by hand. She seems to be trying to pull a fast one so I'm very wary.

franklee

On a periodic tenancy the landlord needs to serve a 21(4)a giving a minimum two months notice.

With a period 28th of one month to 27th of the following month your landlady putting a notice through the door on 18/19th September should have dated it to expire after 27th November.

Note that the day rent is due doesn't define the start of a period, that's taken from the day the tenancy started but they are often the same thing. So the above presumes the tenancy started on the 28th of the month!

The notice you have been served is invalid so useful to keep that up your sleeve should you need more time.

PS. Your proof of later service could have come from you writing a short note to the landlord confirming the conversations you had with her on and after 13th September. Always confirm important phone calls in writing!