Landlords with periodic tenancies would still be able to issue a Section 21 eviction once the Renters (Reform) Bill is implemented, according to analysis from letting platform Goodlord and Dutton Gregory Solicitors.
As detailed in the Bill, those with periodic tenancies will be able to serve a Section 21 until the government reviews the court system, reports on it to parliament, and then sets an ‘extended implementation date’, at which date the new rules all apply to all tenancies.
Ryan Heaven, associate solicitor at Dutton Gregory, said: “A lot of people place emphasis on Michael Gove stating that section 21 would be ‘outlawed’ before the election, but when you examine the Bill closer this is not what will happen; whenever the election date is there will be some landlords in this country who will still be able to serve a section 21 notice even if it others are not able to.”
The Section 21 ban will apply for new tenancies, as well as a fixed-term tenancy that becomes periodic once the Bill has been implemented.
Oli Sherlock, director of insurance at Goodlord, said: “As the Bill currently stands, it seems that the apparent promise to delay the scrapping of Section 21 to allow for court reform is not what it seems.
“Instead, it appears that the market will be delivered a fragmented process which sees some tenancies permitting Section 21, some not, and others that could fall into either camp depending on how a tenancy renewal is handled.
“This would all be taking place alongside an investigation into the courts, which currently has no confirmed timeline or identifiable metrics for success.
“The deep irony here is that the very same courts will be managing more and more cases deriving from tenancies where section 21 has already been outlawed. Arguably this is the worst outcome for all parties.”
