Prescribed form of Notice under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988

This Section 21 Notice Seeking Possession is an eviction notice that can be served by a Landlord on an Assured Shorthold Tenant. It advises the Tenant that the Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) will be terminated on a specified date. That date may be the last day of the fixed term or a later date.

This Notice is in the form prescribed under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 for properties in England. This form must be used to terminate an AST created in England on or after 1 October 2015. It may also be used to terminate ASTs created before that date. For properties in Wales please see the Section 21 Notice (Wales).

The Notice can be sent to the Tenant by using our Section 21 Covering Letter for a Tenancy in England. This letter can set out practical arrangements for vacating the property.

Housing Law permits an Assured Shorthold Tenant to remain in occupation of the Property after the end of the fixed term of his Tenancy, unless the Landlord has served a valid Section 21 Notice. The Tenancy becomes a “periodic” AST.

Please note that this Notice is only suitable for ASTs. It cannot be used to terminate any other type of tenancy. Consider using a Section 8 Notice Seeking Possession or a Notice to Quit instead. These documents can be found in our “Terminating Tenancies” folder.

Serving this Notice is effectively the first step in the Accelerated Procedure for repossession of properties let on ASTs. If the court is satisfied that a valid Section 21 Notice has been served, it will order the Tenant to vacate the Property.

The termination date specified must be at least 2 months after the Notice is received by the Tenant. The earliest termination date is the end of the fixed term of the Tenancy. The termination date may fall at any time during the periodic tenancy.

Landlords need to have complied with certain legal obligations before they can serve a valid Section 21 Notice. See our Guidance on Section 8 and Section 21 Notices for further information.

This document is duplicated in the Possession Proceedings subfolder.

This Section 21 Notice Seeking Possession (England) is in fixed field format. Simply press TAB to jump from one field to the next and SHIFT + TAB to go back. Alternatively, use the mouse to click from one field to the next.

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