Section 21 notices: what they were and what happens to them now

Shilpa Mathuradas

Section 21 has been abolished

Section 21 “no-fault” eviction notices have been abolished. From 1 May 2026, when the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 came into force, landlords can no longer serve a new section 21 notice. Possession must now be sought under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, on one of the statutory grounds.

This guide covers what section 21 was, what happens to notices already served, and what landlords and tenants need to do during the transitional period.

For the full overview of the new regime, see our guide to the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. For the specific transitional deadlines, see Renters’ Rights Act 2025: what landlords must do now section 21 has been abolished.

Pre-commencement notices: the 31 July 2026 deadline

If you served a valid section 21 notice on your tenant before 1 May 2026, you can still rely on it. But there is a hard statutory deadline.

The last date to issue court proceedings on a pre-commencement section 21 notice is 31 July 2026. This cut-off is set by the Act and may be shorter than the time period printed on the notice form itself.

After 31 July 2026 the notice is unenforceable. The landlord must restart under the new section 8 framework, relying on one of the statutory grounds for possession.

If you are sitting on a section 21 notice and the tenant has not left, do not wait. Take advice now about issuing proceedings within the window.

What was a section 21 notice?

Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 allowed a landlord to recover possession of a property let on an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) without needing to give a reason, provided certain conditions were met:

• The tenancy had to be an AST
• The fixed term had to have ended, or the tenancy had to be running on a periodic basis
• The landlord had to follow strict procedural rules

It was known as a “no-fault” eviction because the landlord did not have to prove the tenant had breached anything.

Why pre-commencement notices can still fail

A section 21 notice served before 1 May 2026 only remains usable if it was valid in the first place. Many notices were defective and a defective notice cannot be enforced, regardless of timing. The most common validity issues are:

Deposit protection

If a security deposit was taken, it had to be placed in a government-approved scheme within 30 days of receipt. If you missed that window, you cannot rely on a section 21 notice. Protecting the deposit late does not fix the problem. The deposit has to be returned to the tenant before any section 21 notice can be valid.

Prescribed information

At the start of the tenancy, the landlord had to provide:

• A gas safety certificate
• An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
• The government’s “How to Rent” guide
• The prescribed information about the deposit scheme

Failure to provide these documents at the right time can invalidate the notice. In some cases the documents can be served late and a notice served afterwards, but only if the deposit itself was properly protected.

Form and service

• The notice had to be served in writing using the prescribed form (not by email unless permitted by the tenancy agreement, and not over the phone)
• The notice had to give at least two clear months from the date the tenant received it
• Service had to allow time for postal delivery (two additional working days where served by post)

Other knockouts

• Retaliatory eviction. A section 21 notice served in response to a tenant’s legitimate complaint about disrepair, where the local authority has issued an improvement notice, is invalid under the Deregulation Act 2015.
• Prohibited payments. Charging an illegal fee under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 invalidates a section 21 notice.

If you are unsure whether a notice was validly served before 1 May 2026, get it reviewed before incurring court fees.

How tenants can contest a pre-commencement section 21 notice

A tenant who has been served a section 21 notice (before 1 May 2026) can challenge it by showing the correct procedure was not followed. Common defences include:

• The deposit was not protected, or was protected late
• The tenant did not receive the prescribed information
• The notice used the wrong form or contained a mistake
• The eviction is retaliatory
• The landlord charged a prohibited fee

A tenant cannot be removed from a property without a court order. If the landlord proceeds to court on a defective notice, the claim will fail and the tenant can stay.

The accelerated possession procedure

For pre-commencement section 21 notices that proceed to court before 31 July 2026, the accelerated possession procedure still applies. This is faster than the section 8 procedure because the court usually decides on the papers.

How it works in outline:

• The landlord files the claim with evidence that all procedural requirements have been met
• The court sends the papers to the tenant, who has 14 days to respond
• If there is no valid response, the court grants possession without a hearing
• The tenant is usually given 14 days to leave
• If the tenant does not leave, the landlord must apply for a warrant of possession, after which court bailiffs enforce the order

It is a criminal offence for a landlord to evict a tenant without a court order. Locks must not be changed, and tenants must not be harassed or pressured into leaving.

After 31 July 2026: section 8 is the only route

Once the transitional window closes, every possession claim in England requires a statutory ground under section 8. The available grounds have been strengthened and expanded under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, including:

• Ground 1A (sale of property): mandatory, four months’ notice
• Ground 1 (landlord or family member occupation): mandatory, four months’ notice
• Ground 8 (serious rent arrears): mandatory, four weeks’ notice. The arrears threshold is raised to three months, or thirteen weeks where rent is paid weekly or fortnightly
• Ground 14 (antisocial behaviour): discretionary, immediate notice. Unamended by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025

For a full walkthrough, see our guide to section 8 notices.

The Information Sheet: a separate obligation every landlord must meet

Quite apart from any pending section 21 notice, every landlord must give their tenants “The Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026” on or before 31 May 2026. The penalty for non-compliance is up to £7,000 per tenancy. The official document is available to download from gov.uk.

If the tenancy has no written agreement, the landlord must also provide certain written information about the tenancy by the same deadline.

Frequently asked questions

Can my landlord still evict me under section 21?

No. Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026, when the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 came into force. Your landlord cannot serve a new section 21 notice on you, and cannot start a possession claim based on one.

The only exception concerns notices served before that date, and even those have now run out of time. Government guidance is explicit that landlords “can no longer issue section 21 notices for existing and new tenancies from 1 May 2026”.

If you have been handed a document headed “section 21” or “notice requiring possession” dated after 1 May 2026, it has no legal effect. Do not move out on the strength of it without taking advice first.

What happened to a section 21 notice served before 1 May 2026?

A valid pre-commencement notice could still be used, but only within a fixed window. The landlord had to ask the court to issue the claim form by whichever came first: the date the notice itself expired, or 31 July 2026.

That deadline came from the transitional rules in the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, which allowed either six months from the date the notice was given or three months from 1 May 2026, whichever period ended sooner. Government guidance confirms that if the earliest date proceedings could have begun was on or after 1 August 2026, the notice cannot be used at all.

The window has now closed. An old section 21 notice sitting in a drawer is no longer worth anything.

My landlord started court proceedings before the deadline. Where does that leave me?

Those proceedings continue. Where a valid section 21 notice was given before 1 May 2026 and the landlord had already asked the court to issue the claim form, the notice stays valid until the proceedings are concluded, and the tenancy remains an assured shorthold tenancy in the meantime.

That does not mean the landlord automatically wins. A pre-commencement section 21 notice can still be defective, and the usual challenges remain open: an unprotected deposit, missing prescribed information, the wrong form, retaliatory eviction, or prohibited tenant fees. If you have been served with a claim, respond within the time limit stated on the papers and take advice immediately.

What has replaced section 21?

Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 is now the only route to possession. A landlord has to identify a specific statutory ground, serve the correct notice, and prove the ground in court.

The grounds a private landlord will most often rely on are:

• Ground 1 and Ground 1A: the landlord or a close family member intends to live in the property, or the landlord intends to sell it. Both require four months’ notice.
• Ground 8: serious rent arrears. This now requires at least three months’ rent unpaid, or thirteen weeks where rent is payable weekly or fortnightly, both when the notice is served and at the hearing.
• Ground 14: antisocial behaviour. This ground is unchanged and covers conduct causing or likely to cause a nuisance or annoyance.

The practical difference is significant. Under section 21 your landlord did not have to give a reason. Under section 8 they have to give one, and you can dispute it.

Can my landlord make me leave without a court order?

No. Under section 3 of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, it is unlawful for a landlord to enforce a right to recover possession against an occupier lawfully living in the property other than by proceedings in court.

That means your landlord cannot change the locks, remove your belongings, cut off the utilities, or move other people in to force you out. Doing any of those things is a criminal offence and can also give you a claim for damages.

Even after a court makes a possession order, only county court bailiffs or High Court enforcement officers can carry out the eviction. A letter saying you must be out by Friday is not an eviction.

I am a landlord. What should I do now instead of serving a section 21 notice?

Start by working out whether you actually have a ground. If you do not, you do not have a possession claim, and serving something that looks like a notice will only cost you time.

If you do have a ground, the practical steps are:

1. Identify the correct ground under section 8 and check the notice period that applies to it.
2. Use the current prescribed form. Notices for assured tenancies changed on 1 May 2026 and an out-of-date form will be challenged.
3. Get your compliance in order before serving. Deposit protection, gas safety, the Energy Performance Certificate and the Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet all need to be right.
4. Keep evidence. Under section 8 you have to prove the ground, so rent statements, correspondence and incident logs matter far more than they did before.

Talking to the tenant first is also worth more than it used to be. A negotiated departure is frequently quicker and cheaper than a contested possession claim. Our guide to evicting a tenant sets out the process in full.

Does my fixed-term tenancy still exist?

Assured shorthold tenancies can no longer be created, and existing tenancies converted to periodic assured tenancies on 1 May 2026. Your tenancy now runs from period to period with no fixed end date.

You can end it by giving notice. Your landlord can only end it by establishing a ground under section 8. If you signed a twelve-month agreement in early 2026, the fixed term no longer binds you in the way it did.

Can I claim money back if my landlord has broken the rules?

Possibly. A rent repayment order requires the First-tier Tribunal to order a landlord to repay rent where certain housing offences have been committed, including unlawful eviction, harassment, and letting an unlicensed house in multiple occupation.

Two things have changed in tenants’ favour. An order can now cover up to two years’ rent rather than twelve months, and it can be made against a superior landlord as well as your immediate landlord. Applications must be made within two years of the offence. Our guide to rent repayment orders explains who can apply and how.

If you are unsure where you stand, speak to our landlord and tenant solicitors before taking any step you cannot reverse.

Speak to our property litigation team

Whether you are a landlord trying to enforce a pre-commencement section 21 notice before 31 July 2026, or a tenant who has been served a notice and is unsure of your rights, our landlord and tenant solicitors can help.

Call us on 020 7485 8811 or contact us online to speak to a member of the team.