Received a Section 21 Notice? Here Are Four Things to Check Immediately

A Section 21 Is Not Always Valid

Receiving a Section 21 notice can be alarming. But before you start making plans to move out, it is important to know that a Section 21 notice is not automatically valid. There are several circumstances in which the notice is legally ineffective — meaning your landlord cannot rely on it to obtain a possession order through the courts.

Here are four things to check as soon as you receive a Section 21 notice.

1. Was Your Deposit Protected Correctly?

This is the first and most important check. Under the Deregulation Act 2015, a Section 21 notice cannot be served by a landlord who has not complied with their deposit protection obligations. If your landlord failed to protect your deposit in a government-approved scheme within 30 days, failed to serve Prescribed Information, or did either incorrectly, the Section 21 notice may be invalid.

This applies even where the deposit was protected late and has since been corrected. A landlord who protected the deposit after the 30-day deadline cannot simply serve a valid Section 21 later — the breach has already occurred and must be remedied in full (including paying any compensation owed) before a valid Section 21 can be served in some circumstances.

2. Did Your Landlord Hold the Correct Licence?

In boroughs with selective licensing or additional HMO licensing — including Hackney, Islington, Haringey, and Tower Hamlets — a landlord who is renting without the required licence cannot serve a valid Section 21 notice. The notice is only valid where the landlord is complying with all applicable licensing requirements.

If you are in one of our five boroughs and your landlord did not hold the correct licence, the Section 21 may be invalid — and you may simultaneously have grounds for a Rent Repayment Order of up to 12 months' rent.

3. Is This a Retaliatory Eviction?

The Deregulation Act 2015 introduced specific protections against retaliatory eviction. If you made a written complaint to your landlord about the condition of the property in the previous six months — particularly about repairs, damp, mould, or other disrepair — and the landlord has served a Section 21 notice in response, the notice may be retaliatory and therefore invalid.

For this protection to apply, the complaint must have been in writing, must have been a legitimate complaint about the property's condition, and the local council must not have issued an improvement notice (which triggers separate rules). The timing is important — contact us and we can assess whether your specific situation is covered.

4. Does the Notice Comply With the Correct Procedure?

Section 21 notices must comply with specific procedural requirements — including being served on the correct form (Form 6A for post-2015 tenancies), giving at least two months' notice, and not being served during the first four months of a fixed-term tenancy. A Section 21 also cannot be used to evict a tenant where the landlord has not provided a valid Gas Safety Certificate, EPC, or copy of the government's How to Rent guide.

Procedural defects are surprisingly common. If any of these requirements were not met, the notice is invalid and a court would not grant possession on the basis of it.