united-kingdom rental-property eviction
What would happen if a tenant&#39;s eviction notice got lost in the post, or the tenant claims to not have received it?
<p>I was served 2 months notice to move out of a rental house recently by letter as the landlord wanted their house back. However, a few weeks later and having had no subsequent contact from the estate agent/landlord, I was wondering what would happen if someone in a similar situation claimed to, or actually did not, receive the letter.</p>

<p>The letter was not sent via recorded delivery, maybe that's normally what happens and it solves this problem? Essentially though there is no proof I received the letter whatsoever and they are required to give two months notice. So it may be a week before moving date and the landlord contacted the tenant asking how moving out was going etc. and the tenant has no idea what they were talking about because the letter got lost.</p>

<p>Would they then be required to give 2 months notice from that point on, or could they just claim they served the notice and kick the tenant out anyway?</p>

<p>Assuming you have an assured shorthold tenancy, it's not the landlord himself that can evict you.</p>

<p>The process is that he serves you notice, and if you don't move by the time the notice period ends, then he has to go to court in order to obtain a court order to end the tenancy.</p>

<p>The landlord must demonstrate to the court that he has properly served notice to the tenant. This is a bit of a grey area, but <a href="http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2017/01/17/why-not-serving-notices-properly-can-cost-you-your-case/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this article</a> suggests that, to avoid ambiguity, the landlord should either use recorded delivery (which would provide proof as to whether or not the tenant received it), or deliver it by hand with an independent witness present.</p>

<p>In the case of a section 21 "no fault" eviction, the only defence a tenant has is that the correct procedure has not been followed. So it is in the landlord's interest to ensure that notice has been received beyond any doubt.</p>
