S21 expiry 'On' or 'After'?

[shez1979]

Hi all

Im in need of desperate assistance.

Original AST started 8th june 09 ending 7th Dec 09

I issues notice on 31 Jan 2011 and noted the expiry day of the notice 7th April 2011.

The judge threw this out of court giving the reason that the notice must end after the 7th of the month end.

Im confused, was this thrown out simply because i did not use the word AFTER 7th April?

I really need to get this tenant out asap and so am issuing another with the works AFTER 7 Feb 2012. Will this be sufficient?

[Mrs Mug]

Im confused, was this thrown out simply because i did not use the word AFTER 7th April?

Yes, because the tenant has legal possession of the property up to 23:59 on the 7th April.

[Snorkerz]

Yup, the legislation (section 21(4)(a)) clearly states that it must be after the last day of a tenancy period.

The problem you have is that you are potentially making someone homeless, therefore the judiciary expect you to get everything right as they regard it as a much more serious issue than your PoV which is merely a business issue.

[jjlandlord]

Well the notice does expire on the 7th.
But statutes stipulate that the notice must say that possession is required after the 7th.

See s.21(4)(a):


(a)that the landlord or, in the case of joint landlords, at least one of them has given to the tenant a notice [F4in writing] stating that, after a date specified in the notice, being the last day of a period of the tenancy and not earlier than two months after the date the notice was given, possession of the dwelling-house is required by virtue of this section;