The Bill includes a period of transition for landlords that have already served a s21 notice before the 'Commencement Date'. This date has yet to be confirmed, but this could be the date when the Bill receives Royal Assent in the law-making process.

Under the transitional period, landlords that have served a s21 notice will have, at most, 3 months from the Commencement Date to begin possession proceedings at court; it might be less depending on when the notice was served. This means the court proceedings need to be drafted, submitted, and issued by the court to avoid being time barred. As currently drafted, it is suggested that it may not be enough to send the proceedings to the court but rather they need to have been accepted and processed by the court.

Given the limited window of time in which landlords that have served s21 notices will have to commence possession proceedings once the Bill comes into force, we expect there to be an increase in the volume of new claims within that three month period. The court system is already experiencing lengthy delays in processing new claims and will come under additional strain once the Bill passes.

Should a landlord have already served a s21 notice, it would be advisable to commence proceedings as soon as they are able in order to ensure that the court processes their claim within the transitional period. Any landlords who are contemplating serving a s21 notice should ensure they do so in good time before the Bill comes into force to avoid losing the right to do so.

Timing is everything, and our property litigation specialists are on hand to provide guidance to landlords on how they can utilise s21 before the Bill becomes law.