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Notice from your housing association

Receiving a notice from your housing association is usually the start of the eviction process.

The type and length of the notice depends on what type of tenancy you have and the reason why the housing association wishes to evict you.

If you are an assured tenant with a housing association you can only be evicted in certain circumstances, such as breaking one of the terms or your tenancy, or falling into rent arrears.

Different rules apply if you are an assured shorthold (starter) tenant or demoted tenant.

If you have received a notice from your landlord get urgent advice from Shelter Cymru.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

From 29 September 2020, most housing association tenants in Wales are entitled to 6 months’ notice before their landlord can start court action to evict them. This includes assured and assured shorthold (starter) tenants.

You can only be given a shorter notice in some limited cases. For example if the housing association have given you a notice on the grounds of antisocial behaviour.

What if I received an eviction notice from the housing association before the 29 September 2020?

The amount of notice you were entitled to depends on when you were given it :

  • between 26 March 2020 and 23 July 2020 – you were entitled to 3 months notice
  • between 24 July 2020 and 29 September 2020 – you were entitled to 6 months notice (unless the housing association gave the notice on the grounds of anti-social behaviour in which case it is 3 months).

Evictions take time. Your landlord can only start court action once your notice period ends.

If you have received a notice you should stay in your home. Try to continue to pay your rent if you can. Use the extra time the emergency laws have given you to try and get on top of things and if you are struggling to pay your rent, see our advice.

Court proceedings for eviction were suspended for a time but the courts have now been able to start to deal with evictions again. If you receive any letters from the court take a look at our advice on court proceedings to find out what happens next.

What does the notice have to include?

If you have an assured tenancy, the notice must be on a special form called a Notice of Seeking Possession and must:

  • give the reasons (or ‘grounds‘) for evicting you
  • be for a set length of time.

Your landlord must give either 2 months’ or 14 days’ notice depending on the reason you are being evicted :

  • If the reason is because you have done something wrong (such as rent arrears) the notice will be at least 14 days

If you are at risk of being evicted for rent arrears you may eligible for the Breathing space scheme which gives you time to get some specialist debt advice.

  • If you have been guilty of causing a nuisance, or have been convicted of certain offences, the landlord may give you notice to leave immediately
  • If you are being evicted for any other reason the notice must be at least two months.

In most cases, the notice will be valid for 12 months. If the housing association doesn’t start court action before the end of that period, it has to serve you with a new notice.

What happens after the notice ends?

If the notice ends, or if the housing association isn’t happy with any response you have given to the notice, the next step it will need to take is to start court proceedings for a possession order.

If you are an assured tenant, you don’t have to leave your home until the landlord gets a possession order but, if you don’t move out and your landlord successfully takes you to court you might have to pay their court costs.

You will know if the housing association has started court proceedings because you’ll receive a letter from the court together with some court papers.  If you receive papers from the court and you haven’t contacted an adviser yet, make sure you do so immediately – it might not be too late to prevent eviction.

What if I live in temporary accommodation, supported housing, or a hostel?

If you live in temporary accommodation, supported housing or a hostel, and are threatened with eviction, get advice immediately.

Advisers can check what type of agreement you have and explain your rights. Your landlord may not have to get a court order to evict you, or even give you a written notice. It’s very important to speak to an adviser as soon as you can.

If you receive support and care and your housing association gives you notice of eviction, the housing association is meant to offer advice and assistance and inform other agencies involved of the action being taken. You should take advantage of any help these agencies can provide, as your other options will be very limited.

We are sorry that we cannot provide this information in Welsh, however if you would like to speak to an adviser in Welsh please contact 08000 495 495.

Other pages in eviction

Preventing eviction
Private tenants
Housing association tenants
Council tenants
Mobile homes
Court action
Harassment and illegal eviction

See all advice topics

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This page was last updated on: May 28, 2021

Shelter Cymru acknowledges the support of Shelter in allowing us to adapt their content. The information contained on this site is updated and maintained by Shelter Cymru and only gives general guidance on the law in Wales. It should not be regarded or relied upon as a complete or authoritative statement of the law.

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