Been issued a S21

RightOrWrong123

So, after 7 years my landlord has unfortunately issued an S21. My notice date is 13th March. Rental periods are 26th to 26th. Unfortunately I haven’t managed to secure another property as of yet, and am struggling due to high rentals and being a single income household. So I have approached the council, who have told me to sit tight until a procession order is issued. (I will continue to look private in between times). I will also be paying the rent as normal. But my question is “ if for example the procession order states I need to leave on the 5th of a month (example date) and I have paid the rent for a full month on the 26th of the previous month, would I be due a refund for the remaining period of that month? It’s all hypothetical but I’m just trying to get clear in my head, that when it gets closer to that time, do I just pay weekly rent or continue paying monthly, and hope I don’t overpay for a period I’m not allowed in the property. 

Mark_d

Rent is paid in advance.  If you need to leave on 6 April then your payment on 26 March should be for two weeks.  I imagine this would be confirmed to you in writing.

Brie

Have you talked to Shelter?  They can give you excellent advice.

Has the landlord/landlady done everything that they are supposed to do?  Smoke alarm, deposit in a proper scheme etc?  If not then the thing to do is to wait until the day before the notice date (so 12th March) and respond to the LL and say "oh by the way you forgot to do X" and that makes the S21 invalid (as I understand it).  So the LL will need to start again once they've done X.  If there's something else they've forgotten again you wait til the last moment and say again "oh by the way....."

All of this is part of a delaying tactic to give you more time to find a place to move to.

Best of luck with it - I know it can be stressful.

PRAISETHESUN

The LL issuing S21 does nothing to compel you to actually leave the property. All it means is that the LL has signaled that they are going to commence the legal process to evict the tenant. If you intend to stay, just simply keep paying rent as normal up until you are evicted.

If you're relying on council assistance, then they will tell you that you need to sit tight and go through the full legal process and have the LL evict you. There's a long list of things the LL needs to get right in order to be successful, and if you're playing for time I wouldn't point any of them out until you have your day in court. 

Myci85

Worth pointing out that if you stay and wait for it to go through courts, you're likely going to be liable for those court costs. 

saajan_12

RightOrWrong123 said:

So, after 7 years my landlord has unfortunately issued an S21. My notice date is 13th March. Rental periods are 26th to 26th. Unfortunately I haven’t managed to secure another property as of yet, and am struggling due to high rentals and being a single income household. So I have approached the council, who have told me to sit tight until a procession order is issued. (I will continue to look private in between times). I will also be paying the rent as normal. But my question is “ if for example the procession order states I need to leave on the 5th of a month (example date) and I have paid the rent for a full month on the 26th of the previous month, would I be due a refund for the remaining period of that month? It’s all hypothetical but I’m just trying to get clear in my head, that when it gets closer to that time, do I just pay weekly rent or continue paying monthly, and hope I don’t overpay for a period I’m not allowed in the property. 

Normally rent is indivisible - eg if you decided to leave early, then there's no pro rata and you'd just be out the whole month. 

However in the case of S21 notice specifically, if the tenancy ends part way through, you're entitled to a pro rata refund. So you'd pay in full at the start and then get the overpaid 2 weeks back once the tenancy ends. This arises from the Deregulation Act 2015 (S40)

RightOrWrong123

saajan_12 said:

RightOrWrong123 said:

So, after 7 years my landlord has unfortunately issued an S21. My notice date is 13th March. Rental periods are 26th to 26th. Unfortunately I haven’t managed to secure another property as of yet, and am struggling due to high rentals and being a single income household. So I have approached the council, who have told me to sit tight until a procession order is issued. (I will continue to look private in between times). I will also be paying the rent as normal. But my question is “ if for example the procession order states I need to leave on the 5th of a month (example date) and I have paid the rent for a full month on the 26th of the previous month, would I be due a refund for the remaining period of that month? It’s all hypothetical but I’m just trying to get clear in my head, that when it gets closer to that time, do I just pay weekly rent or continue paying monthly, and hope I don’t overpay for a period I’m not allowed in the property. 

Normally rent is indivisible - eg if you decided to leave early, then there's no pro rata and you'd just be out the whole month. 

However in the case of S21 notice specifically, if the tenancy ends part way through, you're entitled to a pro rata refund. So you'd pay in full at the start and then get the overpaid 2 weeks back once the tenancy ends. This arises from the Deregulation Act 2015 (S40)

That’s amazing, thank you. 

RightOrWrong123

Myci85 said:

Worth pointing out that if you stay and wait for it to go through courts, you're likely going to be liable for those court costs. 

Yeah, unfortunately it’s not really a choice I have! It’s dog eat dog out there with rentals and I just don’t tick all the boxes most agents are wanting to go private, so have to rely on sticking it out until the council deem me as homeless enough 

RHemmings

RightOrWrong123 said:

Myci85 said:

Worth pointing out that if you stay and wait for it to go through courts, you're likely going to be liable for those court costs. 

Yeah, unfortunately it’s not really a choice I have! It’s dog eat dog out there with rentals and I just don’t tick all the boxes most agents are wanting to go private, so have to rely on sticking it out until the council deem me as homeless enough 

Good luck. It's a very difficult situation to be in. For both tenant and landlord. 

Myci85

RightOrWrong123 said:

Myci85 said:

Worth pointing out that if you stay and wait for it to go through courts, you're likely going to be liable for those court costs. 

Yeah, unfortunately it’s not really a choice I have! It’s dog eat dog out there with rentals and I just don’t tick all the boxes most agents are wanting to go private, so have to rely on sticking it out until the council deem me as homeless enough 

I completely understand that, in my line of work I see many people/families in this situation unfortunately. I just don't think it's always made clear to people that sticking it out until the end may leave them with court costs, which for someone already financially struggling, may be something they need to be aware of. That said, some landlords will foot the bill if it means them getting their property back, and I believe depending on individual circumstances, some people may be able to get the court costs paid for them.