Serving the correct section 21 notice

The one for a fixed tenancy as it was a fixed tenancy when you served it.

You can get combined notices however which apply in both situations. This is what I have for members of my Landlord Law site http://www.landlordlaw.co.uk

Dear Karen

You serve s.21 (1)(b) for fixed term as the tenancy is in the fixed term when you serve the notice

Rebecca
Solicitor
Fidler & Pepper

21(1b) as that can be served as soon as the deposit is protected and remains valid.

Thanks for your replies, most appreciated.

My understanding is that because the fixed term will have expired by the expiry of the notice period, the correct notice is section 21 (4a).

@Sharon Betton – given that two solicitors, in addition to myself have suggested otherwise, I think you ought to follow that advice.

Sharon my understanding is that if you have not issued a S 21 b during the initial fixed term AST and it proceeds onto a SPT then if you wish to you will have to issue a S21 A
Bearing in mind for maximum effectiveness a S 21 b should expire on the last day of the fixed term period.
You could issue a S 21 b as soon as you know the tenant has received ALL the DPC paperwork.
If you don’t bother with the S21 b then on the 1st day of the SPT you may issue a S21 a; this would have to be by hand and before 1600 hrs.
This would mean that 2 months on the S 21b will have been served and the day after you may apply for a PO if you wish on the basis of the 2 months notice having been given.
If posting a S21 A then you would need to have posted at least 4 working days before the tenancy proceeded onto a SPT
Ideally send 2 copies from different PO with receipts of posting.
This is something I have never done; but I understand this is best practice to avoid the tenant stating ‘I received an empty envelope’

As you were; a typo, after 1600 hrs it should be S 21 A
What has happened to the edit facility as i am always making mistakes!?
It seems once the button is pushed i can’t recover and correct my posts!

How interesting. I am afraid I will continue to advise as I have done. It is not relevant to say that the notice that is served as a precaution at the start of the tenancy would necessarily be the same as when the tenancy has expired before the expiry of the tenancy. In fact, a landlord of course can serve his own s.21, written by himself. In that case, there would be very little difference whether it was served to end when the tenancy expired or when it had converted to a statutory periodic tenancy.

This comment on another website has confused me with Section 21 1 b…

It says “The date on which the notice requires possession must be at least 2 months after it was served. The Fixed Term Notice (Section 21(1)b) can be served at any time during the fixed term (from just after the agreement is signed up to and including the last day of the fixed term) but must not require possession during the fixed term”

“but must not require possession during the fixed term”, what would be the point of the section 21 1 b notice if you do not require possession before the fix term ends….

Say I have a 6 month tenancy, all deposit protected etc, and I serve a section 21 1 b notice due to (for example) tenant falling into arrears on rent, so long as I give 2 months and a few days to allow for postage I would therefore be requiring possession before end of the fixed term..