Possession notices update October 2021

Our possession notices in England are due to revert back to pre-pandemic notice periods as from 1 October 2021.

Much to the relief of landlords and much to the annoyance of tenants organisations, who will be visiting Parliament on Tuesday 14 September to protest.

But this post is not about the notice periods, it is about the notices.?As it looks as if someone from MLGC has read my previous Landlord Law blog post here where I bemoaned the fact that the notices have become so complex that they are impossible for anyone to make sense of.

So what they have done with the new notices due to take effect from 1 October (which you can preview here) is to remove practically all the notes.?End of problem.?No over complex notes as there are no notes!

This is good for people (like me) who provide notices for users as there is less for us to update.?However, it means that the notices are considerably less helpful to users.?How are tenants supposed to know what the proper notice periods are when the notice drops through their letterbox?

For example, the section 8 notice gives links to Shelter and the government article on understanding the possession process here.?However, the government article is long and some tenants may find it hard to find the information they need - ie has my landlord given me the correct notice period?

Likewise, the Shelter site is massive.?Tenants may find it hard to locate the bit that gives advice on possession notices.

Surely there is a happy medium between having so much information that it is basically unreadable and having no information at all?

Tessa Shepperson, Landlord Law.

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