Changes to notice periods for evictions

From 1st June 2021, the UK government has announced that notice periods in England that are currently six months will be reduced to four months.

As an emergency measure during lockdown the government put a ban on bailiff-enforced evictions.  This will end on 31 May.  The government is taking a phased approach through steps 3 and 4 of the roadmap and notice periods are being reduced except for the most serious cases which remain lower still as follows:

• anti-social behaviour (immediate to 4 weeks’ notice)
• domestic abuse in the social sector (2–4 weeks’ notice)
• false statement (2–4 weeks’ notice)
• over four months’ accumulated rent arrears (4 weeks’ notice)
• breach of immigration rules ‘Right to Rent (2 weeks’ notice)
• death of a tenant (2 months’ notice)

Where there is less than four months’ unpaid rent, the notice period will reduce to two months’ from 1st August 2021.

It is proposed that notice periods will return to pre-pandemic levels from 1st October 2021.