Seeking AST tenancy advice - s21 notices and break clauses

[justforthisnewname]

I am in need of some urgent advice - please does anyone know anything about housing law? I have been told something by a letting agent which I am not sure is quite right. Some of what I will write will definitely be wrong and I would be very grateful if someone would correct these errors.

It is about an assured shorthold tenancy (AST). I have been told that a section 8 notice is only used for eviction for rent arrears and section 21 is used in every other circumstance e.g. seeking eviction for antisocial behaviour, significant breach of obligations under the AST etc.

I have been told by an agent that I MUST HAVE A BREAK CLAUSE in the AST in order to entertain a section 21 notice. So I would have to allow the tenant to have the right to a break clause at say six months (ie they can leave just because they fancy leaving) in order to give me any right to evict the tenant for breach of the AST. This is the first time I’ve ever heard this and it doesn’t sound right to me. If I need the break clause then it would follow that if, for example, the tenant significantly breached the AST say at 3 months but I had to have a break clause, as it would not have kicked in in the above example until 6 months it would still be of no use until 6 months?

I had thought that an adequate AST always gave the landlord the right to terminate the AST for significant breach of lease. Obviously nothing is certain if you have to go to the courts. Maybe I have misunderstood how this works but until now I have never heard of a link between terminating an AST for significant breach of lease and break clauses. Really hope that someone can shed some light on this.

Thanks very much.

The agent is talking partial rubbish. Rent arrears is one of many grounds for an S8 eviction - breach of tenancy agreement is another. You can serve S8 at any time.

However, the agent is partially right - people do tend to use S21 wherever possible. That's because although S21 can't be used within the fixed period, if you CAN use it then it had the advantage of being mandatory - as long as you follow the process correctly, the court can't say no.

Section 8 has some mandatory grounds, but grounds 12 through 15 - which cover breach of tenancy, neglect of the property, anti-social behaviour and damage - are all discretionary. You have to convince a judge not only that it happened, but that it's serious enough to kick someone out of their home. It's pretty rare.