16 July 2023
For non-Housing Act 1988 Tenancies, Common Law Possession Rules apply. There are two ways of regaining possession where tenancies are governed by contract, depending on whether the tenancy is for a fixed period or if it is periodic.
At common law, a fixed period tenancy ends automatically at the end of the fixed term, even if both the landlord and tenant do nothing. The legal phrase for this is that it ends through effluxion of time.
A periodic tenancy will continue to renew itself from period to period unless it is ended by a notice to quit. At common law, there is no set form of a notice to quit and it does not have to be in writing. However, residential constraints are tied in with the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, which does require a minimum four week notice in writing.
There are common law time periods for service of the notice to quit for periodic tenancies related to the period of the lease, as follows:
The dates must be in line with the period of the term to end on the last day of the period. If the notice period in the lease is longer than these common law periods, the notice period in the lease must be used.
This Act overrides the common law rules and means any notice to quit must be in writing, give at least four weeks’ notice and contain prescribed information. Four weeks is the minimum that must be used; if the notice period in the lease is more than four weeks, or the common law rules require a longer period, the longer notice period in the lease or at common law must be used.
This is contained in the Notice to Quit (Prescribed Information) Regulations 1988 and requires that the notice to quit must explain that:
If a landlord (or the landlord’s agent) tries to gain possession without a court order, a criminal offence under Section 1 of the Protection from Eviction act 1977 will have been committed.
Categories: Residential Lettings Legal Aspects of Lettings