Government confirmation regarding possession notices, effective from 1st October 2021
The UK Government has confirmed that notice periods will return to pre-COVID lengths in England from 1st October 2021.
Following the pandemic and the introduction of the Coronavirus Act 2020, the UK Government increased all notices to six months for most grounds, with exemptions for certain serious cases.
Since 1st June 2021 until 30th September 2021 notice periods must be at least four months in most circumstances apart from exemptions for the most serious cases. Notice periods for cases where there are less than four months of unpaid rent, reduced to two months’ notice from 1st August.
From 1st October 2021, all notice periods will return to their pre-COVID lengths. Therefore, the Section 21 Notice, which is used for requiring possession under most circumstances, will be a two month notice requirement.
Moving forward, the UK Government intend to retain the power to implement any similar measures again in the future should the public health situation worsen. To this end, legislation has been tabled that retains the ability for the UK Government to reapply longer notice periods until 25th March 2022 as a backstop.
Our expert team at Gibson Honey are always on hand to advise on any tenancy related matter, so please feel free to contact us if you have any questions, or would like any advice at all.
01895 625999 - lettings@gibsonhoney.co.uk
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