Section 21

For thirty-eight years a Section 21 notice was the spine of an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. Two months in writing, no reason given, and at the end of the notice the landlord could ask the court to make a possession order. Tenants knew it as the no-fault eviction. Landlords knew it as the safety valve when a tenancy went wrong without a clear ground.

On 1st May 2026Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 was repealed by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. There is no replacement for the no-fault route. Every possession claim now needs a stated, evidenced ground under Section 8.

What “abolished” actually means

The most common misreading on landlord forums in the run-up to 1st May was that every Section 21 notice still in flight became invalid overnight. That is not what happened. The repeal is forward-looking, not retrospective for notices already served. What it does is close the door on serving any new Section 21 from 1st May 2026 onwards, and put a hard cliff under the ones that were already on the table.

If you served a Section 21 before 1st May 2026 and the notice period had already expired, the notice itself remains valid for the purposes of starting a possession claim. But the claim has to be filed at court by 31st July 2026. After that date every pre-1st May Section 21 dies on the vine, regardless of when it was served, and you are back to Section 8 grounds for any further action.

What you use instead

From 1st May 2026 every possession claim runs through Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, on the prescribed Form 3A. You pick one or more statutory grounds from Schedule 2, the verbatim ground wording goes on the form (because Form 3A note 4.2 is explicit that you cannot rely on the name of the ground only), and you wait the relevant notice period before issuing the claim.

For most landlords coming off a Section 21 habit, three patterns cover the bulk of real-world need:

• Selling the property uses Ground 1A. Notice period four months. After possession, the property cannot be re-let for twelve months — re-letting inside that window is a civil offence under Section 16E with penalties up to £40,000 per property.
• Rent arrears uses Grounds 8, 10 and 11 served together. Ground 8 is the mandatory rent-arrears ground (three months arrears at notice and at hearing); Grounds 10 and 11 are discretionary backups in case the tenant pays down the arrears before the hearing date. Notice period four weeks.
• Antisocial behaviour uses Ground 7A (mandatory, for tenants with a relevant conviction such as a noise or statutory nuisance offence) or Ground 14 (discretionary, immediate notice, for general antisocial behaviour without a conviction).

The Section 8 page on this site goes through every commonly used ground in plain English, with notice periods, evidence checklist, and the things that quietly cause cases to collapse at hearing.

Common misconceptions, in plain English

“My pre-May Section 21 became invalid on 1st May.”

It did not. A Section 21 served before 1st May 2026 retains its validity for the limited purpose of starting a court claim, provided the claim is filed by 31st July 2026. The repeal is not retrospective for served notices.

“I lost my route to possession on 1st May.”

You lost the no-fault route. You did not lose the right to possession. Every legitimate possession scenario from a pre-Renters' Rights Act tenancy maps onto a Section 8 ground. The work is in stating the reason and evidencing it; it is not in finding a route.

“I can serve Section 21 today if I backdate it.”

Backdating a notice is dishonest and almost always discovered. Section 21 cannot be served on or after 1st May 2026 under any circumstances. A court will throw out a backdated notice, and the landlord faces costs and a credibility problem in any future claim on the same tenancy.

“Section 21 is gone, so my AST is gone.”

Existing Assured Shorthold Tenancies converted to Assured Periodic Tenancies on 1st May 2026. The tenancy did not end. The fixed term did not end mid-tenancy. The tenant has no automatic right to leave. What changed is the landlord's route to possession, not the contract underneath.

“I should re-serve under Section 8 to be safe.”

If your existing Section 21 is in flight and your only ground is “the fixed term has ended,” there is no Section 8 ground that maps to it. Either file the possession claim before 31st July 2026 on the Section 21, or wait for a Section 8 ground to crystallise — sale, arrears, conduct, owner-occupation. There is no “safe re-service” for what was a no-fault notice.

Practical priorities for the next twelve weeks

• Audit every Section 21 notice you served before 1st May 2026 and flag the 31st July 2026 deadline against each.
• For any flagged notice, decide now whether you intend to file at court. If yes, begin the claim paperwork. If no, plan the Section 8 alternative or accept the tenancy continues.
• Stop drafting Section 21s. Every possession workflow from 1st May 2026 starts with “What ground applies?”
• If you are mid-tenancy and considering selling, model your timeline against Ground 1A's four-month notice plus the twelve-month re-let restriction before you instruct an agent.

This page is general guidance on the Renters' Rights Act 2025 in England, drafted to reflect the requirements of the Act. It is not legal advice on a specific tenancy. Possession proceedings are unforgiving — if your case is contested or your evidence is thin, get named legal advice before you serve.