A Section 21....... But not as we know it

Some of you out there maybe following with interest the recent of Spencer v Taylor concerning the serving of a Section 21 notice.

As we all know (I hope)  there are two types of Section 21 notice, one to be served during a fixed term and one to be served when tenancy is periodic, both required different information to be set out in order for the notice to be correct and woe-be-tied any landlord who served the wrong one or got the dates wrong when he applied to the court for possession.

What Spencer v Taylor shows us is that this previous thinking could now not be required.

The Court of Appeal specified that where there was originally a fixed term tenancy then even if a Section 21 Notice is served after the expiry of the fixed term, the landlord can rely on a Section 21(1) Notice. Therefore, provided that not less than 2  months clear notice is given, a Section 21(1) Notice can be relied on at any time. The role of a Section 21(4) Notice does not become redundant but is only relied upon when being served when the tenancy was periodic from the start

It is thought that this new angle on the serving of section 21s could see more tenants evicted and less possession claims being thrown out of court, but in reality will this really be the case.

In my capacity I still see a good number of section 21 notices that have not been completed correctly by both DIY landlord and letting agents, if some still haven’t grasped the logic of two notices for two different tenancies, Fixed tern & Periodic, can we really expect a sudden influx of Section 21s that reflect the revised understanding from this case.

But of course the main point still exists, that regardless of which section 21 a landlord uses, if he/she has not protected the tenant deposit and given prescribed information to the tenant then any section 21 notice served will be invalid any way.

All we can do is wait, watch and wonder …………

Landlords still ignoring the Law books in favour of DIY Lettings

I am always surprised to read a media article of a landlord who has not done the basics when letting a property or blatantly ignored the rules and I am sure we all have a local story we can think of.

However I am becoming increasingly alarmed by the number of tenants, in my local area that I am seeing whose landlord clearly have no idea of the law, or do, but choose to ignore it.

The list of issues is endless, but the most common is landlords still not protecting deposits, in the last month I have dealt with 3 tenants whose landlord didn’t protect their deposit at any point during their tenancy and is now refusing to return it. Shockingly one of these landlord rented his property through an agent, who I would have expected to deal with the deposit or at least advise the landlord of his obligations and the law.

The next most common issue is landlord not allowing tenants to leave a tenancy early – now I know most of you will be jumping up at this point and say “too right”  but I’m talking about a tenant correctly activating their break clause, these landlords are telling tenants the break clause does not apply to them and one landlord even told the tenant “she” needed to serve a Section 21 if she wanted to leave the property.

Now I know this all sounds very unbelievable but I can assure you these are real issues, but where do we start in the education?

Is it up to the government to regulate the industry of both landlords and agents, and if so how is this monitored.

Should the education start with the tenant? If all tenants knew what they should expect would the ‘dodgy’ landlords eventually be squeezed out because they just wouldn’t get tenants.

The letting industry is a viscous circle that has spun on its own for so long I don’t think we will ever successfully stop its motion.

But surely for both landlords and tenants there must be a better way…..?