Section 21 v break clause question?

[Lollabit]

Hi, I should probably know this but not sure. Seeing that abolishing section 21 will be raised in Queen’s Speech tomorrow, meaning no more “no fault” evictions. Is this the same as having a break clause in your contract which permits either L/L or tenant to give two months notice after a fixed period, or is it different? What happens when you reach the end of a contract? In the press it’s saying that it’s like under covid, but I thought those rules were different, and even if contract ended you couldn’t legally ask a tenant to leave without having given six months notice.

If the changes are made, does it override any L/L break clause that the tenant has signed and mean they can stay essentially as long as they like?

I found this on wiki, what does “determine a tenancy” even mean?

Under subsection (1)(b), the tenant must be given at least two months' notice that the landlord requires possession of the property.[18] Where the tenancy agreement contains a break clause which allows for the tenancy to be determined before the expiry of the fixed term period, a notice under section 21(1)(b) may be sufficient to determine the tenancy under the break clause.[x] The legislation is silent and there is no clear authorities as to whether the notice may expire before the end of the fixed term in the absence of a break clause.[18]

I thought they were proposing stopping landlords getting tenants who are not in breach of contract to leave a property unless the landlord is going to sell it or move (back) into it - the intention being to stop landlords evicting tenants for reasons such as tenants asking for repairs to be made or trying to up the rent more by bringing new tenants in.

"Determine" just means terminate or end.

The intention is to remove s21 of the Housing Act 1996 - so landlords would have to have grounds (a reason) to end a tenancy. These grounds would likely be the ones laid out in the Housing Act 1988. Link here explaining them - england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/possession_and_eviction/grounds_for_possession

Some are mandatory - so if a landlord can prove the ground (reason) for possession the court has to grant possession (make a legal order ending the tenants right to stay in the property) and some are discretionary (so the court doesn’t have to make a possession order but could make a different order eg. rent arrears repayment).

It won’t apply to existing tenancies only new tenancies.