UK Landlord Forum / Life

My tenants are coming to the end of a 2 year contract at the beginning of May. They would like to extend the contract but I have decided to sell the property. The property is managed by agents. The agents have suggested that I serve a Section 21 notice in early March at the same time as notifying the tenants that I wish to terminate the contract. Is this sensible? Would it not put the tenants' backs up unnecessarily for the sake of gaining a slight march on any eviction proceedings? The tenants have been slightly demanding but have always paid rent on time and kept the property in good working order.

I'd tell the tenants as soon as you can that you intend to sell and that they should start looking for somewhere else to live. Serving notice is formal, not very friendly and is often counter productive.

If the tenants don't move out in a few months you can always serve notice formally.

I'm  not sure about your comment that serving notice might put the tenant's backs up, though. While I actually agree with the statement, how would you plan to start eviction proceedings otherwise?

Thank you. I agree about telling my tenants as soon as possible and being honest and open. I would very much hope my tenants would move out at the end of the tenancy but as a belt and braces measure is there any benefit in serving a Section 21 order at the same time as giving 2 months notice? Would this mean I could start eviction proceedings at the end of the tenancy if I needed to as opposed to serving a Section 21 at the end of the tenancy when my understanding is I would then presumably have to wait a further 2 months to initiate eviction proceedings?

I agree with jpk. They don't sound like the sort of people who will deliberately make life harder by waiting for the bailiffs. In some areas there is a serious shortage of rental properties, and rents are increasing. Two months is not very long to find somewhere new. I would give them at least a month in advance of formally serving notice. 

Quote from: Perseus on February 25, 2024, 03:09:45 PMis there any benefit in serving a Section 21 order at the same time as giving 2 months notice? Would this mean I could start eviction proceedings at the end of the tenancy if I needed to as opposed to serving a Section 21 at the end of the tenancy when my understanding is I would then presumably have to wait a further 2 months to initiate eviction proceedings?

Yes, notice sooner means you could start possession proceedings earlier.

But is that what you want to do? It's stressful and takes a very long time at present. The best way to resolve this doesn't involve legal proceedings other than as an absolute last resort.

I've been through this process with all of my tenants recently and served no formal notices.

Thank you for these very helpful responses. In line with what I thought but the managing agents had spooked me a bit.