Thousands of tenants who have been served no-fault notices may find their eviction does not stand up in court due to missing documents.
Also known as Section 21 notices, these contracts allow landlords the freedom to to evict tenants without a reason, and are commonly used to push rent up or move friends of family members in.
However, as many as three quarters of tenants could have protection from them because they were not given a government guide to renting at the start of their tenancy, according to Generation Rent.
Serving a Section 21 eviction notice without having provided you with an energy performance certificate, gas safety certificate from the past year, details about your deposit protection, and the Government How to Rent guide is also in breach of the law.
Failure to provide all of these documents makes a no-fault Section 21 eviction notice invalid.
In addition, if a deposit is not protected in an approved scheme, tenants can apply to the county court for compensation worth up to three times the deposit's value.
The report also found 5% of private rented homes have an energy efficiency rating of F or G, which makes them illegal to let out.
But 63% of private renters did not know that their council has the power to enforce the law around poor energy efficiency ratings.
Dan Wilson Craw, deputy director, Generation Rent, told The Mirror: “While landlords don’t need a reason to evict you, they do need to have done everything by the book.
“That means giving you annual evidence that your homes gas supply is safe, information about its energy efficiency and a government booklet about your rights.
“They may have asked you to sign something at the start of the tenancy that they can use to prove that they provided these documents if they seek a no-fault Section 21 eviction.
“You may also be able to challenge a Section 21 if they have not protected your deposit properly, charged you a banned fee, and failed to apply for a licence when they needed one, or received an improvement notice from the council relating to disrepair in your home.”
Three documents you must be issued by law
Serving a Section 21 eviction notice without having provided you with an energy performance certificate, gas safety certificate from the past year, details about your deposit protection, and the Government How to Rent guide, are all illegal.
These are the documents you need:
- An Energy Performance Certificate
- A gas safety certificate
- Proof of here your deposit is protected
