I'm putting this here in the opening post so that it is not lost with other posts, as help for those that rent.
In Britain: tenant will “rent”; landlords will “let”. “Lease” means something different.
A Section 21 notice (of the Housing laws) is a “no fault” notice. Section 21 is for when landlord wants their property back.
A Section 8 notice (of the Housing laws) is a “fault” notice. e.g. tenant is more that two months behind with the rent, or being anti social etc. landlord issues a Section 8 notice. If tenant proves they are not more than two months behind when they go to court as they have paid a little bit off to redue this, the Section 8 in invlaid and landlord starts the process again. Landlords know that at some time they will get a bad tenant and this is part of running a letting business.
What is important for a tenant to remember is that only the tenant or court can decide when tenant leaves the property. Tenant receiving a Section 21 Notice or Section 8 Notice from landlord is not even a notice to move out of the property by that date because only a court or tenant can decide that. Many tenants do not seem to realise this.
Plus a Section 21 has to be valid and landlords in England are required to know the laws and there are many, many ways a Section 21 can be invalid if landlord does not know the various laws of their business. The courts will throw and invalid S21 or S8 out, if tenant has not told landlord just before the court date that their Section 21 is invalid. If landlord still goes to court with invalid S21, tenant can attend and show the courts why the S21 or S8 is invalid. Then landlord has to start the process again, which takes many months and more money.
Sometimes a court might decide the Section 21 is valid but landlord did not comply with their legal obligations in another way and then rule a Section 21 cannot be issued to that tenant.
Or the courts know that it is valid but tenant can state their case why they should have more time and courts will likely grant this.
Unfortunately with the rise of the bad landlords, has come the rise in these in using Section 21 as a threat or weapon for landlord to break the law. e.g. tenant ask for the landlord to carry out their legal obligations of repairs; comply with any of the many other laws landlords must comply with, but landlord might threaten tenant with a Section 21 if they complain, or issue a Section 21 notice if they have contacted the council about landlord lack of repairs.
This is why the government want to end Section 21 no fault notice under these proposals. Both main political parties have said they want to end Section 21 so it should make law. They also want to make sure landlord can only have their property back if they want to sell it, which not only end landlords who use S21 as a threat, but will be the end of those landlords who let their own house for a while and then want to move back into it and those landlords who want to rid of that tenant as they want to charge a much higher rent to another tenant.
The government also seem to be looking at fixing how much landlord can raise the rent in England, regardless of the financial problems of landlord.
I have never known any landlord who raise the rents while they have a tenant in there as they want the same good tenant for years, but apparently there are some that do and these types are on the rise.
At the moment, landlord must issue a Section 13 notice of a rent rise but tenants do not seem to realise that they do not have to accept that. Tenant can apply to a Tribunal when they receive a Section 13, and the tribunal will decide the rent rise.
In England, Letting Agents are not required to know the law and anybody can set themselves up as a letting agent. As expected, landlord is expected to know the laws and keep up to date with any law changes because letting is a business.
Tenant does not have to know the laws but there are plenty of forums with good tenants and good landlords (those who know the laws) and they will help tenant understand if their landlord has commited an offence and what they can do about it. e.g. Under the laws in England, sometimes landlord is required to pay compensation to tenant which often is few thosand. Sometimes landlord can be fined thousands by a government agency (councils, Trading Standards), or they might decide to prosecute landord instead e.g. if landlord does do not have a good attitude: which will then give landlord a larger fine and a criminal record.
Or in some cases, the police can issue landlord with a Warning or Caution to landlord (which appears on their criminal record) if landlord has committed the offence of harassement on tenant; or the police can refer the matter to the council for them to take landlord to court.
The laws in England say that every tenant has the right of quiet enjoyment of their home.
It's also important for tenant to realise that in England, nobody can take away your legal rights in a contract.
