Notices

Landlords can seek possession of a property for various reasons, for example if there are rent arrears or the tenant is unable to pay further rent. 

In most circumstances landlords must provide notice before they can apply to the court to evict the tenant.

A Section 21 or Section 8 notice, or both, can be used where a tenant has an assured shorthold tenancy. A Section 8 notice can be used if a tenant has broken the terms of the tenancy.

Section 21 notices cannot be served if the following apply:

• It is less than four months since the tenancy started, or the fixed term has not ended, unless there is a clause in the contract which allows for this
• the property is categorised as a house in multiple occupation (HMO) and does not have a HMO licence from the council
• the tenancy started after April 2007 and the tenants’ deposit is not in a deposit protection scheme
• the tenancy started after November 2016 and the landlord is not registered or does not have the appropriate licence.

Renting Homes Wales Act 2016 (RHWA 2016)

The RHWA 2016 will amend the current legislation in relation to eviction when it comes into force. It will increase the period at the start of a new tenancy during which a landlord’s notice cannot be issued by 6 months. It will also increase the minimum notice period a landlord must give when seeking to end a contract where there has been no breach of its terms, from two months to six months. Combined, these changes will provide 12 months’ security of occupation for contract holders where there is no breach of contract.

Landlords’ property rights will continue to be protected through the retention of their ability to issue a possession notice with a shorter notice period – one month – if the contract has been breached.

See Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 for further information.

Coronavirus legal update 

The Coronavirus Act 2020 (CVA 2020) received Royal Assent on 25 March 2020 and came into force on 26 March 2020. The CVA 2020 was passed as an emergency measure in response to the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

In Wales, the Coronavirus Act 2020 (Residential Tenancies: Extension of Period of Protection from Eviction) (No. 2) (Wales) Regulations 2021 are in force until 30 September 2021. These Regulations mean that six months’ notice is required for notices served in respect of most types of tenancies (apart from where the grounds for the notice relate to anti-social behavior or domestic violence). These increased notice periods have been introduced in response to the pandemic and the risk to public health if increased numbers of people are evicted into homelessness.