Where a Landlord is entitled to the return of their Property, without having to prove fault, when the Landlord serves a Section 21 Notice on the Tenant on or after 29th August 2020, they now need to give the Tenant at least 6 months’ notice to vacate the Property, not just two months as before the lockdown. Under this procedure, Landlords can issue court proceedings against their Tenant at any time from between 4-10 months from the date when the Section 21 Notice was served.

If a Landlord has to use the more complicated and involved grounds under Section 8 to seek to recover possession of the Property from their Tenant, then the new notice periods vary depending on the grounds relied on. These range from a notice period of 4 weeks where the Tenant is in arears of 6 months’ rent or more, rising to at least 6 months’ notice, if the Tenant’s rent arrears are less than 6 months. There are also new notice periods introduced for various other Section 8 grounds depending on the seriousness of the Tenant’s actions across the various grounds, ranging from two weeks’ notice in certain circumstances, to three months on other grounds, depending on which basis the Landlord seeks possession of the Property.

The above rule changes, have been supplemented by a raft of other new changes to Court rules, which introduce additional steps which a Landlord will now have to take from 21st September 2020, when pursuing a court claim for a possession order through the Courts.

The combination of the above changes, is likely to mean it will take a Landlord over 12 months to evict their Tenant on this basis, whilst these present rules remain in force.

It will be clear to all reading this article, that if you are having problems relating to the Tenancy of your Property, whether as a Landlord or as a Tenant, there has never been a time when it is more important for you to seek independent legal advice on your particular position, if you are in any doubt as to where you stand.