Section 21 "no fault" evictions were abolished in England on 1 May 2026 by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. You cannot serve a Section 21 notice. If you are looking for the compliance checklist that used to govern them — gas safety certificate, EPC, How to Rent guide — the notice those requirements attached to no longer exists.
This guide explains what replaced Section 21, what happened to the old prescribed requirements, and the one compliance failure that still stops you regaining possession.
The short version:
- Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026
- All assured shorthold tenancies became assured periodic tenancies; fixed terms are gone
- Possession now runs through Section 8, on stated grounds, with a court order
- The old prescribed requirements no longer bar possession, because the notice they blocked no longer exists
- Deposit protection is the exception — the court cannot make a possession order if the deposit was not protected
- Your gas, electrical, EPC and alarm duties are unchanged. Only the consequence changed
What actually changed
Before 1 May 2026, Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 let a landlord regain possession without giving a reason, provided a list of prescribed requirements had been met. That route is closed. Three things happened at once:
- Section 21 was abolished. No new Section 21 notice can be served.
- Fixed terms ended. Existing assured shorthold tenancies converted automatically to assured periodic tenancies, and all new tenancies are periodic. Tenants can stay until they end the tenancy, giving two months' notice.
- Section 8 became the only route. You must state a ground, serve the correct notice, and if the tenant does not leave, go to court and prove it.
If you served a Section 21 notice before 1 May 2026, transitional rules allowed a court application by the earlier of the notice's six-month validity or a long-stop date of 31 July 2026. That date has now passed, so pre-abolition notices are spent.
The Section 8 grounds you are most likely to use
For mandatory grounds the court must award possession if the ground is proven. For discretionary grounds the court decides whether eviction is reasonable, even where the ground is made out.
| Ground | Use | Notice | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | You or a close family member move in | 4 months | Mandatory |
| 1A | You are selling the property | 4 months | Mandatory |
| 8 | Serious rent arrears — 3 months' rent owed (monthly), or 13 weeks (weekly or fortnightly) | 4 weeks | Mandatory |
| 10 | Any rent arrears | 4 weeks | Discretionary |
| 14 | Antisocial behaviour | None — apply immediately, though the court cannot order possession for 14 days | Discretionary |
| 4A | Student HMO, to relet to new students | 4 months | Mandatory |
Two restrictions matter most in practice:
- Grounds 1 and 1A cannot be used in the first 12 months of a new tenancy. You cannot let a property and then immediately move in or sell with vacant possession.
- Ground 4A is unavailable if the tenancy was agreed more than six months before it started.
Ground 1A does not apply to assured tenancies that existed before 1 May 2026 as lifetime tenancies. If your tenancy predates the change, check where it sits before relying on it.
What happened to the old compliance requirements
This is where most of the confusion sits. Under the old regime, five things could invalidate a Section 21 notice. Here is where each now stands.
Gas safety record
Still a legal duty. No longer blocks possession. You must still have every appliance and flue you are responsible for checked every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer, issue the record to existing tenants within 28 days and to new tenants before they move in, and keep records for two years. Letting without a valid record remains a criminal offence with unlimited fines. What has gone is the possession consequence.
EICR (electrical)
Still a legal duty. Never was a Section 21 bar. The Electrical Safety Standards Regulations 2020 require a five-yearly inspection and a report to tenants. Enforcement is through local authority remedial notices and financial penalties of up to £30,000 — as it always was. Guidance claiming an EICR blocked a Section 21 notice was wrong even before abolition.
EPC
Still required to let. You cannot lawfully let a property below the minimum energy efficiency standard, and enforcement is by the local authority. This is a letting restriction, not a possession one.
How to Rent guide
No longer a precondition for possession. It attached specifically to Section 21. Giving tenants clear written information at the start of a tenancy remains sensible practice.
Deposit protection — the one that still bites
This is the exception, and it is the one to get right. GOV.UK's guidance is explicit: the court cannot make a possession order if you have not protected the tenant's deposit in a government-approved scheme.
- Protect the deposit within 30 days of receiving it
- Use one of the approved schemes: DPS, MyDeposits or TDS
- Serve the prescribed information on the tenant within 30 days
- Keep it protected for the life of the tenancy
Failure also exposes you to a claim for one to three times the deposit — and now, unlike the other requirements, it blocks possession outright regardless of which ground you rely on.
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
Unchanged by the Act. Under the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022 you must provide:
- Smoke alarms on every storey used as living accommodation
- Carbon monoxide alarms in any room used as living accommodation containing a fixed combustion appliance, excluding gas cookers
They must be in working order at the start of each tenancy. Enforcement is by local authority remedial notice and a penalty of up to £5,000.
What to do now
- Stop relying on any Section 21 process or template. It has no legal effect.
- Check your deposits. This is the single compliance item that can defeat a possession claim. Confirm every deposit is protected and that prescribed information was served.
- Plan on four months, not two. The most common grounds — moving in, selling — need four months' notice and cannot be used in the first year.
- Keep evidence. Section 8 requires you to prove a ground. Rent statements, correspondence and records of complaints are what a court will want.
- Keep your safety compliance current anyway. The possession lever has gone, but the fines, remedial notices and prosecutions have not — and a landlord who has been letting without a gas safety record has a problem regardless of who is trying to leave.
Getting possession is now slower and evidence-led. The practical shift is from a checklist you completed before serving notice, to a case you have to prove. Records that used to be about validating a notice are now about proving a ground.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Section 21 was abolished in England on 1 May 2026 by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Any notice served before that date had to reach court by the earlier of its six-month validity or 31 July 2026, and that long-stop date has now passed. Possession now runs through Section 8, which requires you to state and prove a ground and obtain a court order.
Not any more. Under the old rules a gap in gas safety compliance could invalidate a Section 21 notice, and courts applied that strictly. Section 8 does not carry the same precondition — GOV.UK lists deposit protection as the only compliance requirement the court applies before making a possession order. The gas duty itself is unchanged, and letting without a valid record remains a criminal offence, so fix the lapse regardless.
It no longer prevents possession, because it was a prescribed requirement for Section 21 specifically. Providing clear written information at the start of a tenancy is still good practice and helps avoid disputes, but its absence is not a bar to a Section 8 claim.
This is the one that still stops you. The court cannot make a possession order where the deposit was not protected in an approved scheme. Protect it and serve the prescribed information immediately, and take advice before starting proceedings — you may also face a claim for one to three times the deposit amount.
Longer than under Section 21. The most common grounds — moving in yourself or selling — require four months' notice and cannot be used during the first 12 months of a tenancy. Serious rent arrears requires four weeks. If the tenant does not leave, you then need a court hearing and must prove the ground.
This guide reflects the law in England as at August 2026 and is general information, not legal advice. Possession proceedings turn on the specific facts of a tenancy — take advice from a solicitor before serving notice.
Related articles:
- Landlord Compliance Guide
- Gas Safety Certificate for Landlords
- Landlord Electrical Safety Requirements
- How Often Do Landlords Need an EICR?
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