The Deregulation Act will be extended on 1st October. This Act made substantial changes to the operation of section 21 notices in Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) in England.
The changes first came into effect on 1 October 2015 but only for tenancies which started or were renewed for new fixed terms after that date (‘new tenancies’). Therefore we have been in a transition period for tenancies which pre-dated 1 October 2015 (‘old tenancies’). This transition period ends on 1 October 2018 and from that date the Deregulation Act changes will apply to all ASTs. However, not all the changes will apply and they will not apply uniformly.
Essential there are four groups of changes made to Section 21 Notices: (1) a new form of notice (Form 6A) and changes to time limits; (2) prohibitions on service of notice after local authority enforcement action under the HHSRS (retaliatory eviction); (3) obligation to serve Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and Gas Safety Certificates (GSCs) and (4) obligation to serve the How to Rent guide.
The new Form 6A and the time limits on service of section 21 notices will apply to all ASTs from 1 October 2018. While currently not mandatory for old tenancies, landlords serving notice now would be advised to use the prescribed form anyway. Any section 21 notice served now will not expire until after 1 October 2018 and a possession hearing will not be listed until after this date. There is no good reason not to use the Form 6A and it will prevent unnecessary disputes over whether the correct form of notice has been served.
The Deregulation Act also introduced restrictions on the timings of serving section 21 notices including preventing the landlord from serving a section 21 notice within the first 4 months of the original AST. Section 21 notices now also have an expiry period. If proceedings are not commenced within 6 months from the date the notice was given (the period is slightly longer if more than two months’ notice is required), the notice will expire and the landlord will need to serve a fresh notice if they want to bring a possession claim.
While these rules currently only apply to new tenancies it seems that from 1 October 2018 the six month time limit will operate for all ASTs including old tenancies so that even notices served now, before the 1 October 2018, will be subject to the 6 month restriction after 1 October 2018.
It is therefore probably safest for landlords to assume that the ‘use it or lose it’ provision now applies to all section 21 notices served. This means that landlords will have to issue possession claims promptly. If they delay then a new section 21 notice will need to be served.