The Government has confirmed that the emergency measures introduced as part of the Coronavirus Act 2020, requiring landlords to provide longer notice periods when seeking possession of residential property, will come to an end on 30 September.
From 1 October, notice periods will return to their pre-Covid lengths which means a return to a two-month notice period for Section 21 Notices (no fault evictions), and a minimum of 2 weeks' notice where the tenant is in breach of the tenancy.
Sherrelle Collman, Managing Director of Caridon Landlord Solutions, says: “We are pleased that the Government has confirmed this return to reasonable timescales for landlords to be able to obtain possession of their properties.
Owing to the pandemic, there has been a rise in landlords who now have tenants in receipt of Universal Credit and we are working closely with those landlords and tenants to help sustain the tenancies wherever possible.
With the furlough scheme also coming to a close at the end of this month, and sadly an estimated 1.6 million people still relying on this funding, it is inevitable that more tenants could find themselves struggling to make rent payments. We would strongly encourage any tenants who are concerned about their current employment status and/or notice period to reach out to their landlord. In the majority of cases, landlords will always want to help and keep hold of tenants who have been reliable in the past.
However, landlords should also be reminded that the Government is still planning to abolish Section 21 notices in the autumn so if they do have problem tenants who are not willing to communicate or cooperate via mediation etc. then they should look to take action sooner rather than later.”