I have been served with a notice to leave my home by my landlord

A Section 21 is a formal notice issued by your landlord for you to leave the property. It is considered a mandatory possession.

There are three legal steps to the Section 21 eviction process:

Step 1 - Section 21 notice must be valid

• It must be provided in a written format by your landlord
• It must give you two months notice
• You must have an assured shorthold tenancy
• It must expire at the end of or after your fixed-term tenancy

Step 2 - Possession order

• After the two months notice has ended and you have not left the property, your landlord must apply to court and obtain a possession order which will give you a scheduled date to leave
• The court will send the defence papers to you. You have 14 days to complete and return them to court. This is your only opportunity to inform the court of incorrect notices / non-protection of tenancies etc.

Step 3 - Notice of eviction

• When the date to leave on the possession order expires, your landlord must go back to the court and apply for notice of eviction which gives a date for bailiffs to remove you from the property. You will be informed of the bailiff warrant in advance by the courts to give you time to pack your belongings.

If you are struggling to find yourself alternative accommodation, you may want to exercise your tenant rights to stay until the final stage of the notice of eviction. This will give you valuable time to secure new accommodation and avoid becoming homeless. 

Section 21 - what next?

• As soon as you receive a Section 21 notice, you should start your search to find alternative accommodation – do not ignore or avoid this situation. The more time you give yourself, the easier the process will be.
• Contact your landlord to find out the reason behind the notice and see if you can resolve the issue in order to withdraw the notice. If this is not applicable, ask your landlord to delay the eviction process to allow you more time to find alternative accommodation.
• If your landlord continues with the eviction process, you will be given an opportunity to present your defence to the court where the Judge will make a decision on your situation. You will be sent defence papers in advance of the court hearing that you must return within 14 days. Use this opportunity to inform the court if the notice was served incorrectly or if the deposit was incorrectly protected at start of the tenancy. Where appropriate, the Council’s Housing Options Ream can give you advice on defence issues.
• Where appropriate, the Council can speak with your landlord on your behalf to negotiate your tenancy sustainment by stopping the eviction or request a delay to the eviction process.
• Where appropriate, the Council may provide you with advice and/or assistance regarding your housing situation by explaining your rights and the most suitable tools to assist you in finding your own accommodation.
• Where appropriate, the Council can try to prevent your homelessness by analysing your income and expenditure in order to help you seek affordable accommodation or keep you in your current accommodation.
• If you have been served notice due to rent arrears, we will need to know the reasons behind it and will need to be provided with recent bank statements and other financial documents to conclude whether or not the eviction was because of a ‘deliberate act’ on your part.