Last week the Government announced that notice periods for section 8 and section 21 notices would change.

This afternoon, the Government has announced that legislation has now been introduced, so landlords must now give tenants 6 months’ notice before they can evict until March 2021, except in the most serious of cases, such as incidents of anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse perpetrators.

The stay on possession proceedings has been extended until 20 September, meaning that in total no tenant can have been legally evicted for 6 months at the height of the pandemic.

The package of support for renters includes the extension of notice periods and the extension to the stay on possession proceedings. For the most egregious cases, notice periods have returned to their pre-coronavirus levels, and landlords will be able to progress serious rent arrears cases more quickly.

• The government is also helping landlords affected by the worst cases to seek possession; these are:

  • anti-social behaviour (now 4 weeks’ notice)

  • domestic abuse (now 2 to 4 weeks’ notice)

  • false statement (now 2 to 4 weeks’ notice)

  • over 6 months’ accumulated rent arrears (now 4 weeks’ notice)

  • breach of immigration rules ‘Right to Rent’ (now 3 months’ notice)