Q. I served a section 8 notice on my tenants on 7 April, but they tell me that they have taken legal advice and their legal advisor says I have not served the correct notice. It is exactly the same notice that I have been using for the past 10 years. Should I ignore them and go ahead with my possession claim?

A. No! The form of notice has changed. As the section 8 notice is a prescribed form, it is essential that the correct form of notice is used. The new form came into force on 6 April. So if you had served your existing notice on 5 April you would have been all right. However, you now need to serve the new one.

You can tell whether the form of notice you are using is the correct one or not by looking at the notes to paragraph 5. There should be a bullet point (with a lot of sub bullet points) all about the new ground for possession, ground 7A.