What to do if a tenant disputes the notice

A notice is a statement of intention, not an eviction. Whether the tenant agrees with it changes nothing about the notice period or your right to apply to court when it expires. What a dispute does tell you is which point a judge will be asked to test — and defective paperwork, not the merits, is what ends most landlord claims.

So respond in two directions at once: answer the tenant in writing, and audit your own file as if you were the tenant's adviser.

• Deposit protected within 30 days, in a government-approved scheme, with the certificate on file.
• Prescribed information served on every tenant and any relevant person, with proof.
• Current gas safety record given to the tenant, and the one in force at the start of the tenancy.
• EPC and How to Rent guide provided before the tenancy began.
• EICR in date, with remedial work evidenced.
• Selective or HMO licence held where the council requires one.
• The notice itself: correct prescribed form, correct dates, all tenants named, signed.
• Proof of service: certificate of service, proof of posting, photographs or a witness.
• A rent schedule that reconciles payment by payment to the correct contractual rent.

If any line fails, the notice is likely to fail with it. Cure the defect and re-serve — see the compliance checklist for what each item requires, and deposit protection for the rule that most often defeats a section 21.

Expect the argument to be one of: the deposit was protected late or the prescribed information was never served; the gas safety record or EPC was not provided; the How to Rent guide was missing; the property needed a licence it did not have; a retaliatory eviction complaint was made to the council; or the notice form or dates are wrong.

Each of these is binary. Either you have the dated evidence or you do not. Where you do not, a fresh notice after fixing the problem usually beats arguing — though late deposit protection may require returning the deposit first. The section 21 guide lists the invalidating defects in full.

Arrears disputes come down to arithmetic. Produce a schedule showing every payment due and every payment received, period by period, at the contractual rent for that period. If a rent increase in the middle was not validly served, the higher figure never applied and part of the "arrears" does not exist — a common and fatal flaw in ground 8 claims.

Ground 8 also requires the threshold to be met at service and again at the hearing, so a tenant paying down just below it before the hearing defeats it. Grounds 10 and 11 remain, but they are discretionary. Timings are set out in how long a section 8 eviction takes.

The tenant's route is a referral to the First-tier Tribunal before the start date on the notice. The tribunal determines the open market rent, so the case is won on comparables: three or four current local lettings of similar size, condition and EPC band, plus photographs and evidence of recent works.

Often the better outcome is a negotiated one — a phased increase, or a smaller rise with a longer commitment. Check the notice itself is sound first using the step-by-step rent increase guide.

A disrepair allegation raised in response to a notice is the single most expensive thing to ignore. It can reduce or extinguish an arrears judgment, add costs, and in some cases block a section 21 where the council has served an improvement notice.

• Acknowledge in writing within days, and offer an inspection date.
• Inspect, photograph with dates, and record what you found.
• Instruct a contractor for anything genuine, and keep the invoices.
• Keep every message in one thread — gaps in correspondence are read against you.

• Change the locks, remove doors or take belongings.
• Cut off gas, electricity, water or internet.
• Enter without proper notice, or repeatedly turn up unannounced.
• Threaten eviction outside the court process, in person or in writing.

These are unlawful eviction or harassment under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 — criminal offences that also hand the tenant a damages claim and destroy an otherwise good possession case.

• Your file is clean and the point is weak: proceed to claim, with the evidence bundle already assembled.
• The defect is real and curable: withdraw, fix, re-serve. Faster and cheaper than losing at a hearing.
• Disrepair or a counterclaim is raised: take advice before issuing.
• The tenant wants to stay and can pay: negotiate — a written repayment plan usually recovers more than possession does.