A Tenant's guide to renting

newname_3

I will check with shelter as well but I think franklee is giving me good advice. I do think it was a section21 and unfortunately I didn't date my signature - I will do this in the future. i also maybe stuffed because it's not beyond the realms of possibility that they put my tenancy start date as the date notice is served and I wouldn't have thought that was a problem. I guess a court would take me signing a dated document as definite.

The woman who handed it to me was the admin assistant at the time but she soon left after that. She was moving house herself over that weekend and was having time off. She never came back to work - I believe she and her husband who was a handyman for the landlord were sacked. My friend who spent time with me on the tenancy start date would back me up but she was only with me for a couple of hours.

newname_3

To clarify further, franklee has given me some good ideas as to what to put. Of course even with sending the letter a judge may still rule that the notice was valid - but franklee was not giving me any guarantees. He also mentioned in his post that I was right to seek advice as I have been doing (just an initial more general enquiry so far but I'm going to follow that up with more of the information I have written about on this thread). Shelter's advice so far has to been to ask for a copy anyway but i didn't mention to them that it was served early or what the LL's admin assistant said at the time. It can't do any harm to mention these issues in writing.

clutton_2

only you can judge whose advice you wish to take - you can see from his strapline that Section 21 is a bit of a hobby horse of his.

There have been NO legal precedent cases to establish the legalities of the timing of the issue of a Section 21.

Franklee - you may quote my posts as often as you wish - i am not going to engage in further discussion with you on this matter as you know my views - as indeed i know yours - we must agree to differ.

prudryden

All this talk about S21 in this case is just a moot point. If the developer gets planning permission to build the other flats and alter the interior of the existing flats, NEWNAME is not going to want to stay there ANYWAY (especially if the roof comes down). And under Schedule 2, ground 6 - the court must order possession as I understand it.

newname_3

I'll have to move if planning permission is granted but I'm thinking about how much notice I might get if it does go ahead. Thanks for your tips prudryden but when i was looking at what you mentioned on the landlordzone it said the court can (& has to if asked) order possession after 2 months notice has been given under schedule 2 ground 6. In all honesty I'm not hopeful that the s21 (which i do think it must have been) will be deemed invalid so in that case I will already have had my two months.

I'm keeping my eye on property lists now anyway but I have to go into hospital next week for a few days so it's not good timing.

franklee

prudryden wrote: »

All this talk about S21 in this case is just a moot point. If the developer gets planning permission to build the other flats and alter the interior of the existing flats, NEWNAME is not going to want to stay there ANYWAY (especially if the roof comes down). And under Schedule 2, ground 6 - the court must order possession as I understand it.

The point is a tenant would usually expect to get two months notice to move should the landlord wish to sell up, develop, or whatever. This is a comfortable amount of time IMO.

But if the S21 notice period has already expired without the tenant realising it then the tenant may get caught on the hop.

There is a world of difference between a well organised move with time and one in a hurry especially if the tenant is busy with work. Therefore it is useful for the tenant to be aware of if the S21 notice is in force and if the notice period has expired.

I think this will become more relevant if more landlords decide to sell up now the house market is turning.

prudryden

She already knows she will have to leave once planning permission is granted - she will probably have more than 2 months in any case. Even under fast track, he will take that long if she wants to drag it out.

Not every discussion on these boards is relevant for a S21 debate - it does get a little boring since the same points are bantered about and nothing has changed for several years now.

franklee

prudryden wrote: »

She already knows she will have to leave once planning permission is granted - she will probably have more than 2 months in any case. Even under fast track, he will take that long if she wants to drag it out.

Yes under fast track it takes a while but then why would a good tenant wish to sully their references with dragging the landlord to court, plus the time and stress that entails? I'd much rather have two months notice under S21 and move in that time without challenging it. Not to mention the tenant would have to pay the landlord's court fee if they lost which they would do if challenging a valid S21.

prudryden wrote: »

Not every discussion on these boards is relevant for a S21 debate - it does get a little boring since the same points are bantered about and nothing has changed for several years now.

There are many issues that come up repeatedly as new tenants ask the same questions as previous ones have. Not everyone is an old hand here. I put a short post about the Sword of Damocles in this thread as I thought it useful for a tenants guide. That generated some questions. I do wish one or two landlords would stop trying to prevent this discussion, it may be old hat to them but it's new to the tenants asking about it. You do not have to read all the posts

prudryden

- this person's flat is going to be torn down and rearranged, hopefully without her in it, s21 or not - under schedule 2 ground 6 she is out. She has a lot of time to prepare for this eventuality. And I think all this discussion about a legal act isn't helping.

franklee

prudryden wrote: »

Get a grip - this person's flat is going to be torn down and rearranged, hopefully without her in it, s21 or not - under schedule 2 ground 6 she is out. She has a lot of time to prepare for this eventuality. And I think all this discussion about a legal act isn't helping.

You don't think it useful for newname to establish if the S21 notice has already been served then