Ending a tenancy or unlawful eviction within selective licencing areas

At the start of your tenancy, your landlord should have given you a government guide called 'How to rent: the checklist for renting in England (opens new window)'. It explains your rights and what you should expect during your tenancy. It also provides information if either you or the landlord want to end the tenancy.

Landlord wants to end the tenancy

The landlord must provide official written notice. There are two main types:

Section 8 Notice - used if you've broken the rules in your tenancy (like not paying rent or causing problems).
Section 21 Notice - used if the landlord wants the property back, even if you haven't done anything wrong.

For a Section 21 notice to be valid, the landlord must have:

protected your deposit (if you paid one)
given you important documents (like an EPC and the How to Rent guide)
done regular gas safety checks
not charged you any banned fees.

If we have served a notice to the landlord to do repairs or if they should have a licence and haven't applied, the Section 21 notice would not be valid. We can help you check this.

If you get a notice from your landlord call our Housing Solutions team straight away on 0191 433 3174. They can help you find somewhere else to live.

Start looking for a new home by contacting local estate agents, or apply for council/social housing (there may be a waiting list).

You don't have to leave on the date the notice says if you haven't found somewhere to move.

At this stage if your landlord still wants you to leave they must go to court to get a posession and then back to court for an eviction warrant.

You'll be sent a letter from the court bailiff with the date and time you must leave.

Pressure to leave from the landlord

Your landlord cannot make you leave without going through the legal process. If they do, this might be an illegal eviction.

You want to leave your home

Talk to the us first. We might be able to help with:

repairs
problems with neighbours
struggles with rent, benefits, or work

If you're on a rolling monthly tenancy, give your landlord written notice (check your tenancy agreement for how much notice you need to give).

If you're in a fixed-term tenancy, you're responsible for rent until the end of that term unless your landlord can rent the property out sooner.

You should keep in touch with your landlord throughout this process in case you need to stay longer. Don't just hand back the keys and leave! If you do, your tenancy won't officially end, and you could still be charged rent and council tax.

Joint tenancy

The legal phrase for this type of tenancy is 'joint and severally liable'. If two or more people are on the tenancy agreement:

One person ending the tenancy means both have to move out.
If one stays, the landlord should sign another tenancy agreement and that person becomes responsible for all the rent.