What a Notice of Enforcement is
It is the formal warning that enforcement is about to begin. Once it has been given and the notice period has run, certificated enforcement agents may attend and take control of goods. Before that, they may not.
It is not a demand letter, it is not optional, and an agent who attends before the period expires is not exercising the enforcement power lawfully.
Authority: Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013, regulations 6 and 7, as amended on 1 May 2026 by the Taking Control of Goods (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026. Read from the revised, in force text on legislation.gov.uk on 11 September 2026.
1. When can agents actually attend?
Longer than most people expect. The period is fourteen clear days, and three separate rules stretch it:
- ✓Neither end counts. "Clear days" excludes the day the notice is given and the day of attendance.
- ✓Sundays, bank holidays, Good Friday and Christmas Day do not count at all. They are skipped, not merely excluded from the ends.
- ✓Saturdays do count. This is the detail most often stated wrongly, usually as "weekends do not count", which would add a week to every period.
The 28 day extension does not apply to non-eligible business debt.
2. Does the notice say everything it must?
Regulation 7 lists ten things a notice of enforcement must contain. Two of them, (i) and (j), were only added on 1 May 2026, so a template that has not been revised since then will be missing both. Tick what your notice actually contains.
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Ten requirements, from regulation 7(a) to (j).
If something is missing
A notice that omits a required item does not comply with regulation 7. What follows from that is a matter for the court rather than something anyone can assert on a website: the remedies available depend on the circumstances, and whether a defect is material is a question a judge decides.
What can be said plainly is that it is worth raising, early and in writing, with whoever issued the notice. Two defects are worth particular attention because they are the most common and the easiest to evidence:
A short period. If the date given for payment is less than fourteen clear days from the date of the notice, and no court has ordered a shorter period under regulation 6(3), the notice is wrong on its face.
No telephone number. Regulation 7(g) requires a contact telephone number and address, with the days and hours the agent's office may be contacted. An email address is not a substitute.
If the notice is valid, what happens next?
Paying in full before the period expires ends the matter, and the only fee is the compliance fee of £79. That is the cheapest the process ever gets, and it is the reason the notice stage exists.
If it is not paid, agents may attend from the day after the period ends. Attendance is between 6am and 9pm, or during trading hours where those fall outside that window. In most commercial cases a controlled goods agreement is signed, the tenant keeps using the goods while paying, and nothing is removed.
The fees are fixed by statute at every stage, and are set out in full on our enforcement fees page.
Can the period be shortened?
Only by a court. Under regulation 6(3) the court may order a shorter period, and regulation 6(4) says it may only do so where it is satisfied that otherwise the goods are likely to be moved or disposed of to defeat enforcement. It is not something the creditor or the agent can decide.
Can it be extended?
Yes, to a minimum of 28 clear days, where a debt advice provider submits a request on the debtor's behalf before the notice period expires. That extension does not apply where the debt is non-eligible business debt: broadly, a business debt where the debtor is VAT-registered or is a partner in a partnership, and the debt relates solely to that business. On a typical commercial tenancy the extension will not apply, though the position for a corporate tenant is not entirely free from doubt.
Regulation 6(1A) and 6(1B), inserted 1 May 2026. "Non-eligible business debt" takes its meaning from regulation 5(6)(d) of the Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space Moratorium and Mental Health Crisis Moratorium) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020.
This page states the general position in England and Wales and is not legal advice. The checker tests a notice against what the Regulations require; whether a particular defect matters in a particular case is a question for a solicitor or the court. If you would like us to look at a notice, send us the details.