Section 21 is abolished: how landlords recover possession now

Section 21 "no-fault" possession was abolished in England on 1 May 2026 by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. A landlord can no longer ask a tenant to leave without giving a reason. Possession now requires three steps: a section 8 notice stating a ground in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988, a court possession order if the tenant does not leave, and bailiff enforcement if the order is not complied with. There is no shortcut, and self-help remains a criminal offence.

The route, step by step

1. Identify a ground that actually fits. The common ones: serious rent arrears (mandatory, requires the statutory threshold — broadly three months' rent — at service and at the hearing), other arrears and persistent late payment (discretionary), breach of a tenancy obligation (discretionary), anti-social behaviour (discretionary), and the landlord-use grounds for moving in or selling (mandatory, four months' notice, generally unavailable in the first 12 months, with re-letting restrictions afterwards).

2. Serve the notice with the right period. Each ground has its own statutory notice period; where several grounds are relied on, the date must satisfy the longest. Anti-social behaviour has no minimum period; serious arrears has four weeks.

3. Apply to court. If the tenant stays, issue a possession claim. On a mandatory ground proved, the court must order possession; on a discretionary ground it decides whether an order is reasonable and can suspend it on terms — for example, arrears repaid at a monthly amount.

4. Enforce through bailiffs. A possession order is not self-executing. If the tenant remains, apply for a warrant and let the bailiffs act.

What a landlord must not do

Changing the locks, removing belongings, cutting off gas, water or electricity, or harassing a tenant into leaving is unlawful eviction and harassment under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 — a criminal offence, with a civil claim for damages on top. This applies even when the rent genuinely has not been paid for months, and even when the notice was validly served.

Why possession claims fail

In practice they fail on paperwork more often than on facts:

• Compliance gaps at the start of the tenancy. Deposit not protected in time, prescribed information not given, no current How to Rent guide, no EPC, EICR or gas safety certificate. These limit the grounds you can run.
• A notice period that is too short for the ground relied on, or a date calculated from the wrong day.
• Particulars that are too vague. The notice must set out the facts, with figures and dates, not just name the ground.
• Landlord-use grounds used too early, inside the first 12 months of the tenancy.

If you are a tenant and a notice arrives

Do not leave immediately, and do not assume the notice is valid. Check three things: that it names a ground and gives the facts; that the notice period matches the ground; and, for arrears, whether the amount claimed is accurate. A notice is a step in a process, not an order to go — only a court can order possession, and only bailiffs can enforce it. If you leave voluntarily you may also affect how the council treats a later homelessness application, so get advice from Shelter, Citizens Advice or a housing solicitor first.

The realistic timeline

Even a straightforward arrears case runs to several months: notice period, then issue, then a hearing date, then enforcement if needed. Landlord-use grounds start with four months' notice before anything is filed. Budget for that, rather than assuming a fast exit — the reform deliberately traded speed for security of tenure.

Serve the notice correctly

Our template drafts a section 8 notice from the ground you choose, with the arrears or breach particulars set out properly and validation that flags an earliest-proceedings date which is too soon for that ground.

→ Section 8 Notice (Seeking Possession)

Related: grounds and notice periods in detail · what replaced the AST · if you served a section 21 before 1 May 2026, it expires on 31 July.