Landlords: How Serving the Wrong Notice Could Cost You Time and Money
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Now that we’ve covered how to start and manage the tenancy, it’s time for me to share some great tips on how to bring the tenancy to an end in the right way.
Hopefully it won’t come to this, as it is every landlord’s nightmare, but if your tenants default or fail to pay the rent, then you are entitled to serve notice, in order to end the tenancy agreement.
Unfortunately, it isn’t quite as straightforward as that. You have to ensure that you serve the correct notice.
If you serve the wrong notice, it will not be valid and you will have to start the whole process again, costing you time and money.
When it comes to choosing a notice to serve, there are two options that will do the job. One is under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1998 and the other is under Section 21(1)(b). These notices are designed to get you your property back at the end of the fixed term.
If the fixed term has already expired and the tenancy has become periodic, that is it has no end date and is simply continuing on an on-going basis, then you will need to serve notice under Section 21(4)(a). If you have let the tenancy agreement switch to a periodic, on-going one, then you are required to give your tenants a 90 day notice period.
Any notice you serve will have to be done in writing. It is up to you to make 100% sure the notice has been filled in and written up correctly. If not it could be declared invalid, forcing you to start the whole process all over again, dragging it out even further.
Hopefully you won’t need to serve notice for non-payment of rent but it is important that you know what to do should the situation arise.
P.s.
In the next blog I will explain other times when you should serve notice on your tenants and how to go about doing so.