Serious rent arrears eviction notice for Wales checklist

Read the Notice to make sure it meets your needs. Check that your occupation contract is able to have a Serious Rent Arrears Notice created for it and check that at least 14 days’ notice is being given.

Also, to make sure your Notice is valid, ensure that: 

• the dwelling’s address and postcode in the notice are correct

• all landlords’ and all contract holders’ names are included

• the contract holders’, landlords’, and any agents’ or signatories’ names are spelt correctly

If you have any questions, Ask a lawyer.

You can use our Eviction notice review service if you’d like a Legal Pro to check that you’ve created your Serious Rent Arrears Notice correctly.

Sign your Notice either: 

• online using RocketSign, or

• on paper, by printing and then signing

Either the landlord or the landlord's agent must sign where appropriate. If there are multiple landlords, all landlords should sign the Notice.

Your Notice must be correctly served (ie delivered), or it will not be effective. 

The Notice is only served when the contract holder is deemed to have received it. The time the Notice takes to get to the contract holder is not included in the notice period given to contract holders (ie the amount of notice they’re given is the time between the date they receive the Notice and the notice’s expiry date). Therefore, consider allowing extra time for delivery (eg at least 3 days via Royal Mail).

You can serve your Notice:

• directly to the contract holder (ie by handing it to them in person)

• by leaving it at or posting it to:

  • the contract holder’s last known home or business address

  • a place the contract holder has specified that they can receive Notices, or

  • the dwelling to which the Notice relates

• by sending it in electronic form, but only if the contract holder has explicitly indicated to you that they’re willing to receive Notices electronically (eg if this was included as a specification in the occupation contract)

You should also retain proof that the Notice has been served. For example: 

• proof of delivery from Royal Mail or a courier service. It’s best to use a recorded delivery service as a minimum

• a statement from a witness who saw you hand deliver the Notice to the contract holder or to one of the places outlined above. The statement should attest to the time and date of posting. A witness should have mental capacity, not be related to you, and not be under 18 years old

• an electronic confirmation of delivery

• a signed statement from the contract holder confirming that they’ve received the Notice and when

If there are multiple contract holders, you should serve your Notice to all contract holders. The easiest way to do this is usually by delivering it to the dwelling. 

Keep a copy of your Notice and proof of service. 

A copy of your Serious Rent arrears Notice will be stored automatically in your Rocket Lawyer account ‘Dashboard’.

You should also download and securely store a copy of your Notice for your records.

You can only start the court process for evicting a contract holder (ie a possession claim) after the 14-day notice period has passed. 

There is a limited period during which you can issue a possession claim in court following a Serious Rent Arrears Notice, starting from Notice’s expiry date (ie 14 days after serving/delivering the Notice) and ending 6 months after that Notice has been served/delivered. You will be unable to issue possession proceedings once 6 months have passed from this date of service.