Back dating Section 21 notice

roaduser3189

Hi all,
We are awaiting a Section 21 notice from our landlady. I have received a call this morning from the letting agent to say the LL is not happy with the date on the notice and will have 29th December on it. Notice to be delivered today in person. 

My understanding is that the notice is valid from the date we receive it. So if we get it today, the notice should state 30th December, is that correct?

theartfullodger

You want an invalid notice , then when case get's to court you can challenge it  &.get it thrown out.  Probably buy you an extra 4-6 months whilst they issue a valid one.

Best wishes.

Artful, landlord since 2000

roaduser3189

In terms of dates - our fixed year AST ends on 8th October , with it becoming a rolling contact from then on. If notice date is 29th December, how will it affect rent if the rent is paid for and covers 8 dec -8 January? 

SpiderLegs

roaduser3189 said:

In terms of dates - our fixed year AST ends on 8th October , with it becoming a rolling contact from then on. If notice date is 29th December, how will it affect rent if the rent is paid for and covers 8 dec -8 January? 

It won’t. It’s a notice of intention to seek possession, you are not expected to leave on the specific expiry date.

canaldumidi

roaduser3189 said:

In terms of dates - our fixed year AST ends on 8th October , with it becoming a rolling contact from then on. If notice date is 29th December, how will it affect rent if the rent is paid for and covers 8 dec -8 January? 

Firstly, rent paid on 9th Dec will cover 9th Dec-8th Jan (not 8th Dec), based on your fixed term ending on 8th Oct.

Next, assuming you do indeed plan to leave on the expiry date of the S21 (29th Dec?), then the LL is required to refund rent for the days following the tenancy end-date. Rent should be caclulated pro rata, thus you should be refunded for 10 days (or 9 if you leave on 30th Dec). See Deregulation Act 2015 S40.

However, you are under no obligation to leave when the S21 expires. Only a court can end the tenancy, not the LL. The S21 simply tells you the LL is then permitted to apply to a court to end the tenancy. This will take time.

Next, the S21 is probably invalid. If served on you on 30 Aug, 29th Dec is not the required 4 calender months. You are under no obligation to tell the LL (or agent). If/when the LL applies to court, you can then inform the court which will dismiss the LL's application and he will have to serve a new S21.

So what expiry date was on the S21?

As for the LL's planned change to the utility supplier, this is in your control. If you plan to leave on 29th (30th?), then it won't affect you, so why rock that particular boat? But if you plan to (or might) stay beyond then, as is you right, then as soon as you get any notification of the switch, contact your supplier, inform them you are not vacating and that you do NOT want to switch. As the account holder your word will count for more than the LL. To be sure, I would email/write, but if you use a call centre, make a note of the date, the time, the name of who you speak to, and what is said.

For a list of other reasons a S21 may be invalid see S21 checklist (Is a S21 valid?). Note it is accurate except regarding the increased notice periods for S21 since the new covid rules.

Likewise G_M's sticky above (Post 4: Ending/renewing an AST:  ) is not able to be updated with the new Covid rules, which is a shame.

roaduser3189

We received a hand delivered  envelope yesterday (30th) , expiry date of notice is 29th August. 

I asked the letting agent who delivered the notice about the date being the 29th and not 30th and she said something along the lines of " 1 day before or after is fine" but I don't know if that's correct. From what I could gather the LL put a lot of pressure on the agent to change the date. 

canaldumidi

roaduser3189 said:

We received a hand delivered  envelope yesterday (30th) , expiry date of notice is 29th August. 

I asked the letting agent who delivered the notice about the date being the 29th and not 30th and she said something along the lines of " 1 day before or after is fine" but I don't know if that's correct. From what I could gather the LL put a lot of pressure on the agent to change the date. 

She is perhaps thinking of service of notice as per the case of Crate -v- Miller [1947]  - but this does not apply to the Housing Act 1988  S21.

The Housing Act (as amended) is very precise).

Or she's ignorant. Or trying to bamboozle you.

roaduser3189

I meant 29th December not August as expiry of section 21. 

SpiderLegs

What are you hoping to achieve from this scenario? 

roaduser3189

I am not hoping for anything in particular, I just want to educate myself and know where we stand legally in this situation.  

roaduser3189

I am not hoping for anything in particular, I just want to educate myself and know where we stand legally in this situation.