Can my landlord serve Section 21 after I complained about repairs?

The Deregulation Act 2015 introduced protections against retaliatory eviction in England. If you made a complaint in writing to your landlord about the condition of the property, and your landlord or their agent did not provide an adequate response within 14 days, you may have protection if a relevant authority (such as the local council) then serves an improvement notice or emergency remedial action notice.

Once a council improvement notice is issued, your landlord cannot validly serve a Section 21 notice for six months. If they have already served one after your complaint but before the council acted, that notice may also be invalid if the council subsequently confirms the disrepair.

The protection applies where: (1) you complained in writing before the Section 21 was served; (2) the landlord's response was inadequate; and (3) a local authority officer inspected and issued a formal notice. Informal complaints, verbal ones, or complaints made after the Section 21 are generally not sufficient.

It is therefore important to put any repair complaint in writing — email is fine — before the landlord serves notice. Contact your local council's housing enforcement team as soon as possible after the complaint goes unanswered, as their involvement is key to triggering the protection.

You should also check that the Section 21 notice is otherwise valid (deposit protected, gas certificate given, EPC provided, correct form used). Multiple grounds of invalidity can be raised together as a defence if the landlord takes court action.