27 Jul 26
Contributed article from Des Taylor
Section 21, we thought it was dead and buried, didn’t we?
01 May 2026 it should have been, but not according to one North West London council.
They are still issuing selective Licences, and at Condition 6, it says at the bottom of it that you must still use Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to evict tenants where antisocial behaviour and the process of eliminating it has not worked.
It states: “They (the occupiers) will be liable to enforcement action which may include possession proceedings either under the terms of the tenancy, pursuant to s.21 of the Housing Act 1988”
Now, how interesting is that?
Those that can enforce against use of Section 21 when it has been abolished can also enforce against it when they tell people to do it.
You could not make this up.
Of course, you all trust the council.
You all think that they are right.
Well, they are not.
Most of them are incompetent at doing licensing from what we see and experience.
They should not have that authority.
The Secretary of State, well, if she has got any gumption, she will do something about it.
But she probably will not.
Good luck, and please do check your licence conditions, and always seek professional advice because this would have been missed by most.
Sharing this as a matter of Public Interest.
Landlord is a software guy, he would have never realised.
This is one of the main values a licence represention service.
This was one of more than 20 issues with the licence.
It is Harrowing to read these and know that most landlords and licence holders are sleep walking into enforcement they agreed to by accepting the licence conditions as they were written.
The reality is:
Breaching the condition is an offence
AND complying with the condition is another offence.
