Section 21 has been abolished: what UK landlords do now

What Was a Section 21 Notice?

If you were counting on Section 21 to get a property back, that route has closed. Section 21 was the notice landlords in England used to regain possession of an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) without proving fault by the tenant. It was abolished for private tenancies on 1 May 2026 by the Renters' Rights Act 2025: no new Section 21 notice can be served on a private tenancy in England.

This guide explains what Section 21 was, what still applies to a notice that was validly served before 1 May 2026 and is now working through the courts, and the Section 8 route that has replaced it for every new possession case.

Despite being called a "no-fault" eviction, Section 21 always had strict procedural requirements, and failing even one made the notice invalid. Most of those duties still apply to every tenancy, though under Section 8 only the deposit rules can stop the court making an order.

When Could a Section 21 Be Served? (pre-1 May 2026)

For any notice served before 1 May 2026 (and therefore for a transitional notice still in court now), a Section 21 was only valid if:

1. 1The tenancy was an AST (which most residential tenancies in England were until 1 May 2026)
2. 2The fixed term had ended, or notice was served during a periodic tenancy
3. 3All the compliance preconditions below were met
4. 4The correct form (Form 6A) was used

A Section 21 could not be served within the first 4 months of a tenancy.

From 1 May 2026 none of this applies to a new notice: possession now runs entirely through Section 8 grounds.

The compliance preconditions Section 21 needed

This is where most landlords lost cases. For a Section 21 to be valid, ALL of the following had to be in place:

1. Gas Safety Certificate. It had to be in date: a certificate that lapsed by even one day defeated the notice.

2. EPC. The tenant had to have received a copy of a valid EPC before the tenancy started.

3. How to Rent guide. The current government How to Rent guide had to be provided at the start of the tenancy.

4. Deposit protection. The deposit had to be in a government-approved scheme with the Prescribed Information served.

5. Electrical safety. The EICR wasn't one of the prescribed Section 21 requirements, but it has been compulsory since 2020, with penalties of its own.

If any of the first four was missing, the notice failed. Under Section 8 only the deposit rules can stop the court making an order, though the others are still the law.

How a Section 21 Was Served (transitional notices only)

For a notice served before 1 May 2026:

1. 1Complete Form 6A (from GOV.UK)
2. 2Give at least 2 months' notice
3. 3Serve by hand or recorded delivery (keep proof of service)
4. 4Apply to court (online through Possession Claim Online, or on paper with form N5B) if the tenant did not leave

For any new case you now use Section 8. LetCompliance's Section 8 readiness checker looks at your compliance first, then shows which grounds you can use and the earliest possession date, so a procedural slip is less likely to get the claim thrown out.

Section 21 and the Renters' Rights Act 2025

Section 21 was abolished for private tenancies on 1 May 2026 under the Renters' Rights Act 2025. New Section 21 notices can no longer be served on a private tenancy in England. A notice validly served before that date could still be used, but only if the court was asked to issue a claim on it in time, by 31 July 2026 at the latest. That deadline has now passed. Social housing let by a housing association or other private registered provider keeps Section 21 until the Act is brought into force for it.

For possession from here on you use Section 8, citing a specific ground. See the eviction process for 2026 and the Renters' Rights Act landlord guide.

Checklist for a transitional Section 21 notice

For any claim still in the courts on a Section 21 notice served before 1 May 2026, every one of these had to be in place at the time or the notice was defective:

• Gas Safety Certificate in date and previously given to the tenant
• EPC given before tenancy start
• Deposit protected and Prescribed Information served within 30 days
• Current How to Rent guide given at tenancy start (the guide was withdrawn on 1 May 2026, so this applies to historical notices only)
• No blocking improvement notice in the last 6 months

Important: these are NOT the Section 8 preconditions. Do not carry this list over to a new possession claim. Under Section 8, only the deposit rules bar an order (every ground except 7A and 14, until the deposit is protected with the prescribed information given, even late, or returned). Gas, EICR, EPC and How to Rent never gated Section 8: they carry their own penalties and, on the discretionary grounds, weigh on the reasonableness test, but a possession order does not turn on them.

Why Section 21 notices failed, and what actually carries over

Courts rejected Section 21 notices for a small set of recurring reasons. Knowing them matters for two things: finishing any transitional Section 21 still in the courts, and understanding what does, and does not, transfer to Section 8.

1. Lapsed Gas Safety Certificate

If the annual Gas Safety (CP12) certificate was out of date on the date of service, a Section 21 notice was defective. It does not invalidate a Section 8 notice, though an unsafe installation weighs against you on the reasonableness test for a discretionary ground, and the gas duty carries its own unlimited fine regardless.

2. EICR not provided

Landlords often assumed a missing EICR defeated a Section 21 notice, but it was never one of the prescribed requirements. It doesn't defeat a Section 8 claim either; it carries a penalty of up to £40,000 in its own right.

3. Deposit not protected or Prescribed Information missing

This is the one that does carry over, in a changed form. A late-protected deposit, or Prescribed Information not served within 30 days of receipt, blocked Section 21 and still costs a 1×–3× penalty. Under Section 8, what bars a possession order (on every ground except 7A and 14) is a deposit that is still unprotected or Prescribed Information still not given; doing both, even late, lifts the bar, and so does returning the deposit.

4. How to Rent booklet not given

The correct edition had to be given at the start of the tenancy for a valid Section 21. The guide was withdrawn on 1 May 2026 and is no longer served on new tenants; it never gated Section 8. It is relevant now only as evidence for a pre-May-2026 Section 21 claim.

5. Notice period too short

Section 21 needed at least 2 months. Section 8 notice periods vary by ground (for example Ground 8 rent arrears is now 4 weeks). Always check the exact ground and allow the full period.

6. Wrong form used

Section 21 used Form 6A; Section 8 uses Form 3A. Using a letter or a general notice is not sufficient: the prescribed form is mandatory.

7. "Retaliatory eviction" defence

If the tenant had complained in writing about disrepair and the council then served an improvement notice, a Section 21 notice served within 6 months of the council's notice was invalid (Deregulation Act 2015 s.33). That rule belonged to Section 21 and didn't carry over to Section 8, but disrepair still counts against you there, through counterclaims and the reasonableness test.

How to serve correctly today (Section 8):

1. 1Confirm the deposit is protected and the Prescribed Information served. This is the one that bars possession if it is wrong.
2. 2Complete Form 3A with the correct ground wording (verbatim from Schedule 2).
3. 3Serve by hand (signed receipt) or first-class post (certificate of posting). Keep evidence.
4. 4If the tenant does not vacate by the proceedings date, apply to court.

(Keep your gas, EICR and EPC current too, not because they bar Section 8, but because they carry their own penalties and a judge weighing a discretionary ground will notice a landlord who neglected them.)

A deposit mistake can still stop a possession claim. LetCompliance checks your deposit position before you draft, fills in the ground wording verbatim from Schedule 2 on Form 3A, works out the arrears from your rent ledger, and keeps a dated record of how and when the notice was served. (A Section 21 notice served before 1 May 2026 could be used only if the court was asked to issue a claim on it by 31 July 2026 at the latest.)