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29 July 2020 / Brooke Lyne
Issue: 7897 / Categories: Features , Property , Landlord&tenant
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A sigh of relief for landlords

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Brooke Lyne shares some good news for landlords on gas safety & section 21 notices

In brief

  • Is the failure to provide a gas safety certificate prior to a tenant entering occupation fatal?
  • Does it prevent a landlord from ever being able to serve a s 21 notice?
  • These questions have been vexing landlord & tenant lawyers and county court judges up and down the country for years.
  • The Court of Appeal has finally given an answer in Trecarrell v Rouncefield.

In Trecarrell v Rouncefield [2020] EWCA Civ 760, [2020] All ER (D) 104 (Jun), by a majority of 2-1 (Lord Justice Moylan dissenting) the court concluded that late provision of a gas safety certificate does not prevent a landlord serving a s 21 notice providing that the relevant certificate has been given before service of the notice.

The court also considered a new argument raised in the respondent’s notice, namely, if the gas safety inspection took place late (ie more than

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