Served Section 21 what next?

There are many questions and lots of answers about the S21 process on this website, so I suggest you do some research. To the right of your question the first item under Popular Discussions is “Council advice to tenants nearing S21 date – Help!”.

Have you complied with all the requirements for a successful S21 – e.g. documents served at the start of the tenancy: How to Rent Guide, Gas Safety, EICR, EPC. Have you protected the deposit and given the details to the tenant? If there is any error or omission your S21 will be thrown out by the judge.

In the meantime you should try to help the tenant find somewhere else to live, because if the tenant turns against you the process can be dragged out for a long, expensive and stressful time.

Fred.
A lift from your post – ‘So I handed out a Section 21 notice on Aug 22nd and they have until Oct 22nd to move out.’
If you used the correct Form 6a from best place is the .gov website you will see the wording.
They have to move AFTER not BY or BEFORE. If they chose to to either by or before you are in luck. It’s only after a Possession Order is granted by a court that they ‘have’ to move out. Even then you may need to enforce it with bailiffs -all time consuming. I would suggest with your apparent level of knowledge (taken from your comments above) you follow Silver Fish advice and also engage with a good property lawyer or ‘eviction specialist’ pronto.

Hi Fred

It really isn’t as simple as you might think.

Get some legal assistance.
I promise you it will be worth it
Lots of luck

It’s posts like these… with worthy concerns/worries … and people are wondering why short let’s are preferred??!! If I had a house and I was thinking I may need it back within the year… there is no way I’d consider an AST. You have absolutely no guarantee that tenant will move out in the timescale you need to move back in. Then what? What people forget is short let’s house people like in this OPs potential situation… you may need somewhere for 1-3 months whilst your main house is being sorted out and a hotel is ridiculous as it’s got no washing machine and you’ll have to eat out daily as there’s no kitchen…. Short let’s serve a purpose. And the people moving… sometimes they just can’t find anything in budget or available! Rents have skyrocketed in such a short space of time that I bet many are getting a shock to the system when they start looking at what is out there!

Reply to the comment left by Silver Flier at 29/09/2023 – 16:59
Hi,

Yes I have served the necessary documents. If I go down the court order route in hillingdon council, what kind of timeline should I expect?

Reply to the comment left by Lisa008 at 30/09/2023 – 10:14
I wasn’t planning to rent out for a short time, but unfortunately due to personal circumstances I have had to change my plans

Hey Fred,

Interesting post. A few quick points:

ASTs don’t “finish”; at the end of the fixed term period, they continue open-ended on a periodic basis. The only ways to end an AST are for the tenant to surrender it, or for the courts to end it: i.e., getting a possession judgment AND having bailiffs enforce it. Your s21 is merely the first step in this long arduous process.

How long? Depends on the local court waiting times; best speak with people local to you or directly with your local court admin who may give you an idea of timescales. In my area, you’re looking at circa 12 months.

The court process up to getting a PO should be quick enough if you use the “accelerated procedure” (but you can’t include a claim for unpaid rent in that). It’s getting the warrant of possession and then getting the county court bailiffs to enforce the warrant that takes the time. You may be better off helping the tenant to relocate.