As many landlords will be aware, it was previously the case that if a landlord had not served tenants with a Gas Safety Certificate before they moved in, then the landlord would never be able to serve a valid Section 21 Notice. There was no remedy to this and it left landlords, who had fallen foul of this rule, in a very difficult situation.

This has now all changed as the Court of Appeal has recently handed down judgment in the case of Trecarrell House vs Patricia Rouncefield. The Court of Appeal has said that as long as a landlord serves the tenants with the Gas Safety Certificate, which was valid at the time of occupancy, before the Section 21 Notice is served, then it will be a valid notice.

It is important to note that a valid Gas Safety Certificate still has to have been in place at the time the tenants occupy, therefore this only helps landlords who merely did not serve the certificate upon the tenants. The position, perhaps quite rightly, remains that if landlord did not obtain a Gas Safety Certificate prior to renting the property out to Tenants then they cannot evict a tenant under Section 21.

If you have any questions on this ruling, get in touch with the team at Terry Jones Solicitors today.