Section 21 woes

[pinksheep0710]

My flatmate and I signed a AST for 6 months which runs out on Thurdsay (6th Aug).

 

Apparantly when we signed the contract at the estate agents we also signed a scetion 21 notice requiring possession at the end of the fixed period. As far as I can remember attention wasn't drawn to this other than a discussion where we ascertained the possiblility of renewing the AST after 6 months.

 

Today I saw our property advertised on the web. So I phoned the estate agents who said that because we hadn't got in contact telling them we wanted to renew they were re-marketting the property and we need to either sign a new contact immediately or move out by Thursday. They claim to have sent us a letter informing us of this but we never recieved it.

 

The whole thing feels wrong. I understand that it works for agents to issue s21 notices at the start, but surely we should have been aware of this? We were waiting for the landlord / the agent to get in touch about renewing assuming that if we didn't hear the tenancy would become periodic and that we would be given 2 months notice if we needed to move out.

 

We have now been pretty much forced into signing a new AST otherwise we'll have nowhere to live come Thursday.

 

Just wondered if anyone could offer any advice? It seems bad pratice by agents simply seeking to force tenants into having to resign for a fixed term without anytime to negotiate / look around for other places to live.

[pinksheep0710]

Having checked our tenancy agreement we did, indeed, sign a s21 notice which was dated the day after we signed (i.e. after the start of the tenancy). Is this allowed?

 

Also - am off to re-sign this evening after work and wondering whether I will have to sign another s21 notice. Will this be valid as it's before the start of our new AST or is is ok because it's after the start of our original AST...

 

:-?Confused? I am. Just don;t want to let estate agents screw me again.

[maybelline]

Factsheet 21 - Section 21 - Notice Requiring Possession of an Assured Shorthold Tenancy | Factsheets | Letting Factsheets

 

hope this helps

[jackieandwayne]

I don't hold with it myself, serving S21 at the start. I can see why it is done, to protect the landlord - if it all goes belly up he can kick legal proceedings into play at the earliest opportunity.

 

Coming from the social housing angle, I don;t think it inspires confidence in my tenants, my lot all have problems. But then again a private landlord doesn't necessarily have to worry about those things and I do.

 

If you think back to how it used to be, owner couldn';t get tenant out of the property for love nor money, then you can see really why it is an option that private landlords can use. It is perfectly legal.

 

Anyway, at least you now have a new tenancy in a home you like.

[Planner]

Keep in mind for the future that there is a third option to leaving and signing a new contract. That is the contract becoming a statutory periodic tenancy (rolling month on month) at the end of the fixed term. This happens automatically at the end of the tenancy if you dont move out or sign another one.

[pinksheep0710]

Thanks guys - jackieandwayne, I do understand that it protects the landlord, but I don't think it's his doing rather the estate agents who don't want the arrangement to become perdiodic. They want us to sign for a new AST then they get their £93 fee. Or they want new tenants b/c they then again get the fee plus all the money they charge for credit checks etc. Landlord just wants tenants who pay the rent.

 

My frustration was not being told what the s21 notice meant and assuming that of no one got in contact that the AST would become periodic - but instead what happened was that the estate agents started re-advertsing our flat and, I imagine, would have found tenants to replace us and we'd've been kicked straight out. If I hadn't have been on that website just out of curiousity of rent rates...

 

Anyway. I am still able to live in a flat that I like.