Earliest service of a section 8 notice
How soon can a Section 8 Notice be served? This is best explained by an example. If a tenant moves into a property on January 1st and pays monthly in advance for the first month but pays no further rent despite the best efforts of the agent in conjunction with their client landlord the earliest a Section 8 Notice can be lawfully served is March 2nd. Why is this? Because on February 1st the next month’s rent is lawfully due. On February 2nd the tenant is one month in arrears. On March 1st the following month’s rent is lawfully due.
How soon can a Section 8 Notice be served? This is best explained by an example. If a tenant moves into a property on January 1st and pays monthly in advance for the first month but pays no further rent despite the best efforts of the agent in conjunction with their client landlord the earliest a Section 8 Notice can be lawfully served is March 2nd. Why is this? Because on February 1st the next month’s rent is lawfully due. On February 2nd the tenant is one month in arrears. On March 1st the following month’s rent is lawfully due. If unpaid on March 2nd the Section 8 can be served because in this fictional example there are now two month’s rent lawfully due and unpaid according to the tenancy agreement. The Section 8 cannot be served on March 1st because, technically, the tenant has until midnight to pay. A common mistake for both landlords and agents is to wait until the end of the month. Where rent has stopped completely, as in this example, the Section 8 can be served one moth and one day after the first rent day where rent has not been received in the case of a monthly tenancy.
It is considered good practice and acting in the best interests of the client landlord to serve a Section 8 Notice as soon as legally possible. The Notice does not have to be actioned and remains valid for a period of one year. It will often serve as a “shot across the bows” to a tenant who is lackadaisical or has suffered a temporary financial challenge. The landlord may instruct the agency to negotiate a repayment plan with the tenant. In one case where a Section 8 Notice was served the agency received a cheque for £3,000 by return for all of the rent arrears. To the surprise and joy of the letting agency and the landlord the cheque cleared. Unfortunately, this is an unusual occurrence.