Section 21 Has Been Abolished: What Landlords and Agents Need to Do Now

Section 21 no-fault evictions are abolished from 1 May 2026 under the Renters' Rights Act 2025. If you're a landlord or letting agent with active Section 21 notices, tenants you want to regain possession from, or simply a portfolio that relied on Section 21 as a safety net — here's exactly what changes and what you need to do.

The key dates

30 April 2026 (4:30 pm): Last moment you can serve a legally valid Section 21 notice
1 May 2026: Section 21 abolished. No new notices can be served from this date
31 July 2026: Last date to begin court proceedings on a Section 21 notice served before 1 May 2026 (or within 6 months of serving the notice — whichever is earlier)

If you have a valid Section 21 notice already served, it doesn't expire on 1 May 2026 — but you must file your possession claim at court before either the 6-month validity window or 31 July 2026, whichever comes first. See the RRA Deadline Tracker for a countdown to every key date.

Is Section 21 still valid right now?

Yes, until 30 April 2026. You can serve a Section 21 notice today and it will be legally valid, provided:

You've protected the tenant's deposit in an approved scheme and served the prescribed information
You've provided a valid Gas Safety Certificate, EICR, and EPC to the tenant
You've given the tenant's local council at least 28 days' notice before serving (if the tenant has complained to the council about disrepair)
The notice gives at least 2 months' notice
You use the correct prescribed form (Form 6A)

These requirements haven't changed. What changes on 1 May 2026 is that the entire Section 21 mechanism ceases to exist.

What replaces Section 21?

All possession claims will use Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, which requires you to prove specific grounds. The Renters' Rights Act amends and adds several grounds:

Mandatory grounds (court must grant possession)

Ground	Reason	Notice period	Restrictions
Ground 1	Landlord or family member moving in	4 months	Cannot use in first 12 months of tenancy
Ground 1A (new)	Landlord intends to sell	4 months	Cannot use in first 12 months of tenancy
Ground 4A (new)	Student accommodation — academic year cycle	2 months	Purpose-built student lets only
Ground 8	Serious rent arrears (3+ months)	4 weeks	Threshold raised from 2 to 3 months' arrears

Discretionary grounds (court decides)

Ground	Reason	Notice period	Notes
Ground 14	Antisocial behaviour	Immediate (serious) or 2 weeks	Threshold lowered under RRA
Ground 14A	Domestic abuse — partner has been removed	2 months	Protects remaining tenant

The full list of grounds is in Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 as amended by the RRA.

What this means for your current portfolio

If you have active Section 21 notices

Decide now: Do you want to rely on the notice, or abandon it?

If yes: file your possession claim at court before 1 May 2026 (or within 6 months of serving, whichever is earlier). Don't wait — court backlogs mean delays of 6-12 weeks are common.
If no: consider whether a Section 8 ground applies to your situation instead.

If you're planning to sell a property

Ground 1A is new and specifically covers this scenario. You can serve 4 months' notice to the tenant, but you cannot use this ground in the first 12 months of the tenancy. If you're planning to sell in the next few months, you may want to serve a Section 21 notice before 30 April 2026 as a fallback.

If you have problem tenants

Section 8 is your route. The key grounds are:

Rent arrears (Ground 8): 3+ months' arrears at both the date of serving notice and the date of the court hearing. Keep meticulous rent records — bank statements, reminders sent, payment agreements offered.
Antisocial behaviour (Ground 14): Gather evidence — dated incident logs, neighbour statements, police report numbers, council ASB case references.
Property damage (Ground 13): Photographic evidence from check-in vs. current condition. Inspection reports help.

The shift to Section 8 means evidence is everything. Under Section 21, you didn't need a reason. Under Section 8, you need proof.

Build your evidence trail now

Start documenting everything, even if you have no current possession plans:

Rent payments: Maintain a clear ledger for each property. Note exact dates payments are received, any shortfalls, and any communication about late payment.
Property condition: Conduct inspections at least every 6 months. Photograph every room. Date-stamp everything.
Correspondence: Keep copies of all letters, emails, and messages to and from tenants. Use email or a written format — verbal agreements are hard to prove in court.
Complaints and incidents: Log any complaints (from tenants, neighbours, or the council) with dates, details, and actions taken.
Maintenance requests and responses: Record the date a repair was reported, what you did about it, when it was completed, and the cost. Courts look unfavourably on landlords who neglect maintenance and then seek possession.

This documentation costs nothing but protects you in every possession scenario.

The court process changes

The government has committed to improving court processes for possession claims, including:

A new digital portal for possession claims (timeline TBC)
Prioritised hearings for antisocial behaviour cases
Reforms to reduce delays in the First-tier Tribunal for rent disputes

In practice, expect the court process to be slower initially. Section 21 accelerated possession claims (where the tenant doesn't defend) typically took 6-10 weeks. Section 8 claims, which require a hearing, currently take 4-6 months in many courts. The government aims to reduce this, but capacity constraints are real.

Budget for longer void periods between tenancies if you need to regain possession. A Section 8 claim could take several months from notice to bailiff enforcement.

Tenants can leave with 2 months' notice

One change that balances the removal of Section 21: tenants can end any periodic tenancy with 2 months' notice at any time. No break clause needed, no penalties.

This means:

You may see higher turnover if tenants feel less "locked in"
Good property management and responsive maintenance become competitive advantages for tenant retention
Your void period risk shifts from planned (you choose when to end) to unplanned (tenant chooses when to leave)

What to do this week

Audit your portfolio: List every property, its tenancy type, and whether you have an active Section 21 notice
Decide on pending Section 21 notices: File court claims now or switch to Section 8 planning
Start an evidence file for every property: Even a simple folder per property with rent records, inspection photos, and correspondence
Review your management agreements (if you're an agent): Clarify with landlord clients that Section 21 is ending and discuss their possession strategy
Check your compliance across all 12 areas with the free RRA Readiness Checker — possession claims can fail if you haven't met basic compliance requirements like deposit protection and gas safety

For a full walkthrough of every Phase 1 requirement, see the landlord compliance checklist. For all Phase 1, 2, and 3 dates, see the key dates timeline.

This guide applies to privately rented properties in England only. Scotland and Wales have separate legislation. This is not legal advice — for specific possession proceedings, consult a solicitor specialising in landlord and tenant law.

Information is current as of the date shown above.