What if a landlord serves notice to quit before 1 October?
Where a landlord correctly serves notice to quit on a common law tenant, which expires on/after 1 October, it is our view that this would not be effective to terminate the tenancy. This is because by the time the notice expired the tenancy would have become an assured shorthold tenancy. We advise either serving notice to quit to expire at the latest on 30 September 2010 or serving a section 21 notice after the threshold is in place. It is our reading of section 21(5)(a) however, that the court will not make an order for possession less than six months after the grant of an assured shorthold tenancy. This is the Department’s view and only the courts can give definitive guidance.