Why landlords are serving invalid possession notices
If you’re a landlord in Wales and you’re thinking about regaining possession of your property, there’s one very simple thing I’d suggest before you serve the notice: turn the page and read what comes next.
Form RHW16 is the notice landlords can use to bring certain periodic standard occupation contracts to an end without having to give a reason. It’s often referred to as a Section 173 or ‘no-fault’ notice.
For many landlords, the obvious focus is the six-month notice period. But the form itself is only one part of the process.
The bigger question is whether everything that happened before you reached the point of serving it was done properly.
The six-month notice is only part of the story
There are perfectly legitimate reasons why a landlord may need their property back. You might be planning to sell. You may need to move back into the property yourself. Your circumstances may simply have changed since you first decided to let it.
The problem comes when a landlord reaches that point, serves their notice and then discovers that something that should have been dealt with months, or even years, earlier means the notice isn’t valid. At that stage, something that seemed like a straightforward six-month process can suddenly become considerably longer.
Turn the page before you serve the notice
One of the most useful parts of the RHW16 form is actually the guidance that comes with it. There’s a section headed “Restrictions on giving this notice”, and it's worth paying close attention to it.
Among the things landlords need to consider are whether the occupation contract and written statement have been dealt with correctly, whether the required information and certificates have been supplied, whether the deposit has been protected properly, whether any prohibited payments have been taken and whether the property meets the required standards.
It’s the tenancy history that matters
This is where landlords can sometimes be caught out. Imagine you decide today that you need your property back. You download the correct form, put in the correct dates and give the required notice. But perhaps a certificate wasn’t supplied when it should have been. The written statement was issued late. There is a problem with the deposit paperwork. Or something that should have been dealt with during the tenancy has been overlooked.
The issue may have happened long before you had any intention of regaining possession, but it can suddenly become very relevant when you need to do so.
What happens if a tenant takes advice?
There’s another section of the form landlords should notice too: “Guidance notes for contract-holders.” It points contract-holders towards organisations such as Citizens Advice Cymru and Shelter Cymru, as well as their local authority if they are at risk of homelessness. So if a tenant receives a possession notice and takes advice, one of the first things an adviser is likely to consider is whether that notice has been served correctly and whether the landlord has met the requirements necessary to use it.
Again, if they identify a problem, they aren’t simply finding a technicality for the sake of it. They’re checking whether the legal requirements have been followed. And if a notice isn’t valid, a contract-holder may be entitled to remain in the property while the landlord puts matters right and follows the correct process.
An invalid notice can be an expensive delay
If you need vacant possession because you’re selling your property, moving into it or making another significant financial decision, timing can matter enormously. Discovering several months into the process that a notice was invalid can affect far more than the tenancy itself.
Depending on what has gone wrong, you may need to correct the issue and begin the notice process again. Certain failures can create further restrictions and delays.
Suddenly, an administrative job that should have been dealt with routinely during the tenancy can become a major obstacle at exactly the point you need certainty.
Good planning starts on day one
The best time to prepare for eventually regaining possession of a rental property isn’t when you decide you want it back. It’s the day the tenancy begins.
Making sure the right documents are issued, certificates are kept up to date, deposits are handled correctly, maintenance and safety obligations are dealt with and records are properly retained might not feel particularly exciting at the time. But it means that if your circumstances change two or three years later, you’re not digging through emails and paperwork wondering whether everything was done. You already know it was!
Taking the weight off landlords’ minds
This is a big part of what we do for landlords at CPS Homes. Good management should be largely invisible when everything is running smoothly. Behind the scenes, though, there are dates to monitor, documents to retain, certificates to renew, legislation to keep up with and procedures to follow.
We keep those things in order throughout the tenancy rather than trying to piece everything together when a landlord suddenly needs to sell or regain possession.
Because at that point, the landlord shouldn’t have to be wondering whether something was missed two years ago. They should be able to tell us what they need to do next, and know that the groundwork has already been taken care of.
Our Director of Operations, Nik Lewis, keeps a close eye on the changes affecting landlords across Cardiff and Wales - for more regular updates, advice and opinion, follow @thecardifflettingagent on Instagram.
The information contained within this article was correct at the date of publishing and is not guaranteed to remain correct in the present day.
