Round #1106

On 14 March 2025 my landlord handed me a one-page note saying "vacate by 14 May 2025"; the AST started 1 September 2023 and rolled to a statutory periodic in September 2024, rent paid monthly on the 5th. The note is not on Form 6A. Can a court accept this as a valid Section 21 notice if the landlord later issues accelerated possession proceedings?

# Analysis of Section 21 Notice Validity ## Short Answer **No. The notice is almost certainly invalid on multiple independent grounds**, and a court hearing accelerated possession proceedings under CPR Part 55 / Practice Direction 55B would be required to dismiss or stay the claim unless the defects are waived or remedied — most of which cannot be retroactively cured. --- ## Detailed Legal Analysis ### 1. Form 6A Is Mandatory, Not Optional **The Assured Tenancies and Agricultural Occupancies (Forms) (England) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/620), reg. 3** require that a Section 21 notice for an assured shorthold tenancy in England must be given using **Form 6A** (or a form "substantially to the same effect"). - A handwritten one-page note is not substantially to the same effect. Form 6A contains prescribed warnings, checkboxes confirming compliance with pre-conditions, and prescribed wording required by statute. - **Claim: the note is "substantially the same"** — this argument consistently fails where mandatory prescribed information is absent. The prescribed form exists precisely because *Deregulation Act 2014* reforms added pre-conditions the notice itself must evidence. - **Authority:** *Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/1646)* confirm the prescribed form requirement; courts have struck out claims where Form 6A was not used (*e.g., Sherwood v Rooke* and county court decisions post-2015). > **This defect alone is fatal to accelerated possession proceedings**, because the accelerated procedure under CPR PD 55B r.13.2 requires the claimant to file the notice and the court to be satisfied it is valid on the papers. --- ### 2. Notice Period Is Potentially Defective For a **statutory periodic tenancy** (SPT) arising after a fixed term: | Rule | Requirement | |---|---| | **s.21(4)(a) HA 1988** | Notice must expire on the last day of a period of the tenancy | | **Minimum period** | Two months' written notice (s.21(1)(b) / s.21(4)(b)) | | **Deregulation Act 2015, s.36 / s.21(4ZA)** | Notice must be given no more than **4 months** before proceedings issued; proceedings must be issued within **6 months** of the notice date | **Applying the facts:** - Tenancy periods run from the **5th of each month** (rent payment date = period start date under *Mannai* principles and s.21(4)). - Notice handed over: **14 March 2025**. - "Vacate by 14 May 2025" = **61 days**, which is barely two calendar months but: - The notice must expire on the **last day of a period**, i.e., the **4th of a month** (the day before the 5th). - The correct earliest expiry date would be **4 June 2025** (end of the period running 5 May–4 June 2025), since two clear months from 14 March cannot expire until at least 14 May, and the next valid period-end date after that is 4 June 2025. - **14 May 2025 is not the last day of a period of the tenancy** — it falls mid-period. - The notice is therefore invalid on the expiry date as well. > Even if Form 6A had been used, the specified date would render the notice invalid (*Spencer v Taylor* [2013] EWCA Civ 1600 established that s.21(4) notices must expire at period end; *McDonald v Fernandez* [2003] EWCA Civ 1219 confirms this strictly). --- ### 3. Pre-Condition Compliance Must Be Verified Before any Section 21 notice can be valid, the landlord must have complied with all of the following (Deregulation Act 2014 / SI 2015/1646): | Pre-condition | Consequence of non-compliance | |---|---| | **Energy Performance Certificate** served on tenant | Notice invalid (cannot be remedied retrospectively) | | **Gas Safety Certificate** (current and all annual ones during tenancy) served | Notice invalid | | **"How to Rent" guide** (current version) served at outset and on each new version | Notice invalid | | **Deposit protected** within 30 days + prescribed information served | s.21 notice cannot be given while in breach — *Charalambous v Ng* [2014] | | **Landlord licensed** (if in HMO or selective licensing area) | Additional invalidity ground | A handwritten note contains **no evidence of compliance** with any of these. In accelerated possession proceedings the **claimant must prove compliance** (CPR PD 55B); a bare note proves nothing. --- ### 4. Retaliatory Eviction Defence Under **Deregulation Act 2014, s.33–s.40**, if the tenant made a written complaint about the condition of the property before the notice, and the landlord served the notice in response without adequately addressing it, the notice is invalid. Worth checking the factual history. --- ### 5. Position in Accelerated Possession Proceedings The accelerated procedure (CPR Part 55 Section III) works **on the papers** — the district judge reviews the documents without a hearing unless something is wrong. **The judge must be satisfied that:** 1. The tenancy is an AST — ✓ likely satisfied. 2. The Section 21 notice is **valid** — ✗ **fails on Form 6A alone; also fails on expiry date**. 3. Pre-conditions are met — unknown, but the notice itself cannot evidence them. The likely outcomes: - **Claim struck out on the papers**, or - **Directions for a hearing** at which the tenant can raise all defects, or - If the landlord somehow proceeds to a hearing — **dismiss on any of the above grounds**. --- ## Summary Table | Ground of Invalidity | Curable? | Fatal to This Notice? | |---|---|---| | Not on Form 6A | No — must re-serve | **Yes** | | Wrong expiry date (not end of period) | No — must re-serve | **Yes** | | EPC/GSC/How to Rent not evidenced | Depends on facts | Potentially | | Deposit compliance | Depends on facts | Potentially | | 6-month validity window | Runs from valid notice only | Yes if re-served late | --- ## Practical Advice 1. **The tenant should not vacate in reliance on this notice** — it is invalid. 2. If proceedings are issued, file a **defence** (N11B form) specifically pleading: (a) wrong form, (b) wrong expiry date, (c) failure to evidence pre-condition compliance. 3. **Seek advice** from Shelter, a housing law solicitor, or a law centre before any court date. 4. The landlord would need to **re-serve** a valid Form 6A notice with a correct expiry date (earliest valid expiry: **4 June 2025** or later period end), re-starting the clock — and only if all pre-conditions are actually met. > **Note:** This analysis applies to **England** under the Housing Act 1988 as amended. Wales has different rules (Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016). This is legal information, not legal advice; consult a qualified housing solicitor for your specific circumstances.

**No, the court cannot accept it as a valid Section 21 notice.** The notice is defective on its face and the accelerated possession procedure under CPR Part 55 Section III is unavailable to the landlord on these facts. Here is why each element fails and what the landlord would need to do. --- ## 1. Form 6A is mandatory, not optional Under the Assured Shorthold Tenancies Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/1646), **Form 6A is the prescribed form for all Section 21 notices given on or after 1 October 2015 in England** for tenancies that have at any point become periodic. A one-page informal note is not a valid substitute. The Courts have consistently refused to treat non-compliant notices as "substantially to the same effect" where the prescribed form is a statutory requirement rather than mere guidance — the regulation uses the word "must." The notice is therefore **void**, not merely voidable. --- ## 2. Minimum notice period is not correctly calculated Your rent is payable on the **5th of each month**. For a statutory periodic tenancy with a monthly period, the Section 21 notice must: - Give **at least two months' notice**, and - Expire on the **last day of a period of the tenancy** (i.e., the 4th of a month, being the day before rent falls due on the 5th). A notice handed over on **14 March 2025** requiring vacation by **14 May 2025** expires mid-period. The correct earliest expiry date would be **4 June 2025** (the last day of the rental period ending before the two-month minimum is satisfied). Both problems — wrong form and wrong expiry date — independently invalidate the notice. --- ## 3. Pre-conditions for a valid Section 21 notice must be satisfied Before serving any Section 21 notice the landlord must have complied with all of the following. Any outstanding failure is a complete bar to reliance on Section 21: | Requirement | Governing provision | |---|---| | Deposit protected in an authorised scheme **and** Prescribed Information served within 30 days of receipt | Housing Act 2004, ss. 213–215; Localism Act 2011 | | *How to Rent* guide served at the start of the tenancy (and any updated version if the tenancy has been renewed or the guide updated) | SI 2015/1646, reg. 3 | | Valid Energy Performance Certificate provided | SI 2015/1646, reg. 2 | | Valid Gas Safety Certificate provided (if gas is present) | Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998; SI 2015/1646, reg. 2 | | No outstanding Improvement Notice or Emergency Remedial Action under Housing Act 2004 served within preceding 6 months | Deregulation Act 2015, s. 33 | | Tenancy not less than 4 months old at date of service (satisfied here — tenancy started September 2023) | Deregulation Act 2015, s. 36 | You should check each of these. If, for example, the *How to Rent* guide was never served or the deposit Prescribed Information was not provided within 30 days, the landlord cannot remedy those failures now to revive a Section 21 route. --- ## 4. The accelerated possession procedure is unavailable on these facts CPR Part 55 Section III (the accelerated procedure) allows possession **without a hearing** but **only** where the claimant relies on a **valid** Section 21 notice. The claim form (N5B) requires the landlord to certify compliance with all the prescribed requirements. Filing with a defective notice either results in the district judge rejecting the claim on the papers under CPR 55.16(2) or, if it reaches a hearing, dismissal with costs. The landlord would need to serve a new, correct Form 6A notice and wait a further two months (expiring on a period end date) before filing. --- ## Practical position for you - **You do not have to leave by 14 May 2025.** The notice has no legal effect. - If the landlord files an N5B anyway, respond within the **14-day response period** on the N5B, identifying the defects above. The court will likely dismiss on the papers. - Keep records of whether and when the deposit Prescribed Information, *How to Rent* guide, EPC and Gas Safety Certificate were provided — these are your strongest defences if a valid notice is later served. - The landlord cannot use Section 8 on these facts unless there is a rent arrears or other breach ground, so they have no immediate alternative possession route.