How long did a Section 21 notice last, and what happens now Section 21 is gone in England?

In England, Section 21 has gone for private assured tenancies, and old notices have now lost their practical use. Scotland and Northern Ireland never had Section 21, and Wales uses section 173 instead.

How long does a Section 21 notice last before it expires?

Section 21 is repealed in England from 1 May 2026, and every notice served before then is now unusable too — the deadline to start proceedings was 31 July 2026, and that's passed. The old answer to how long before a Section 21 notice expires was usually six months from service, but the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 transitional rule cut off older English notices earlier where the three-month post-commencement period ended first: “the period of three months beginning with the commencement date, if this three month period ends before the six month period mentioned in paragraph (a).” Government tenant guidance now states the result plainly: “If your landlord gave you a section 21 notice before 1 May 2026, it is too late for them to use it to apply to court for a possession order if they have not done so already.” Wales has no Section 21 expiry rule because its no-fault route is section 173, where the specified date “may not be less than six months after the day on which the notice is given.”

How long does a Section 21 eviction take?

A Section 21 eviction in England had no fixed statutory duration, but Shelter’s practical estimate was around eight months from notice and the latest MoJ landlord-possession statistics put median claim-to-repossession at 27.1 weeks. Shelter’s guide said: “Section 21 eviction often takes around 8 months from when you get the notice.” The court-stage figure is not Section 21-only, but it is the strongest official timing benchmark for how long it takes to evict a tenant after section 21 where a claim has already been issued: “The median average time from claim to repossession has decreased to 27.1 weeks, down from 27.9 weeks in the same period of 2025.” Once the court actually makes a possession order, the possession date cannot normally be pushed beyond 14 days, or beyond six weeks even for exceptional hardship: “the giving up of possession shall not be postponed… to a date later than fourteen days… unless… exceptional hardship… and shall not in any event be postponed to a date later than six weeks.”

What happens after a Section 21 notice is served?

After a Section 21 notice was served in England, the tenant did not have to leave during the notice period, and the landlord had to apply to court in time if the tenant stayed. GOV.UK states: “Your tenant does not have to leave during the notice period.” Before the 1 May 2026 repeal, the landlord could often use the accelerated possession process after the notice date, and official guidance said: “If you made your possession claim using the accelerated process using Form N5B, then neither you nor your tenant will need to attend court.” If the landlord missed the deadline, the notice became invalid and the tenancy continued as an assured periodic tenancy; GOV.UK says: “If you do not apply to the court in time, the section 21 notice will become invalid and the tenancy will be an assured periodic tenancy.” Scotland has no Section 21 route, Northern Ireland has no Section 21 route, and Wales uses section 173 rather than Section 21. Abodient can hold a copy of any notice served against the tenancy record, which matters here because whether an old section 21 notice can still be relied on turns on the exact date it was served.

Can a landlord withdraw a notice seeking possession?

A Section 21 notice doesn’t end the tenancy — an assured tenancy ends only when a possession order is executed — so in England there is no statutory Section 21 withdrawal process and a landlord who changes their mind normally does not rely on the notice or continue the claim. The key legal rule is: “Where an order of the court for possession of the dwelling-house is obtained, the tenancy ends when the order is executed.” Wales is different because a landlord can withdraw a section 173 notice within 28 days, or later if the contract-holder does not object; the Act refers to the landlord withdrawing “the notice by giving further notice to the contract-holder.” Wales also imposes a six-month reissue bar after withdrawal: “The landlord may not give another notice under section 173 to the contract-holder before the end of the period of six months starting with the day on which the first notice was withdrawn.” Scotland and Northern Ireland have no equivalent Section 21 withdrawal process.

Does a Section 21 notice end the tenancy?

A Section 21 notice did not end an assured shorthold tenancy in England; the tenancy ended only when a possession order was executed. Housing Act 1988 section 5 says: “Where an order of the court for possession of the dwelling-house is obtained, the tenancy ends when the order is executed.” The old Section 21 text pointed back to that rule, saying that where the court made a possession order, “the assured shorthold tenancy shall end in accordance with section 5(1A).” That means the notice date, the expiry date and even the possession-order date were not the same as the tenancy-ending moment if the tenant remained in occupation and eviction had not been executed. In practice, many renters left when asked, and the English Housing Survey recorded that 45% of private renters whose tenancy ended after being asked to leave in the previous three years said they had been given a Section 21 notice. Wales uses section 173, Scotland has no Section 21, and Northern Ireland uses notice to quit.

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• Renters’ Rights Act 2025 s.2 — “(b)omit Chapter 2 of Part 1 (assured shorthold tenancies).” Source
• Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026 — “The following provisions of the 2025 Act, in so far as not already in force, come into force on 1st May 2026 for the purposes of assured tenancies that are not social housing assured tenancies(3) only—” Source
• Renters’ Rights Act 2025 Sch. 6 para. 4 — “(b)the period of three months beginning with the commencement date, if this three month period ends before the six month period mentioned in paragraph (a).” Source
• GOV.UK tenant guidance on notices before 1 May 2026 — “If your landlord gave you a section 21 notice before 1 May 2026, it is too late for them to use it to apply to court for a possession order if they have not done so already.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 s.174 — “The date specified in a notice under section 173 may not be less than six months after the day on which the notice is given to the contract-holder.” Source
• Shelter England, Section 21 eviction timings — “Section 21 eviction often takes around 8 months from when you get the notice.” Source
• Ministry of Justice, Mortgage and landlord possession statistics April to June 2026 — “The median average time from claim to repossession has decreased to 27.1 weeks, down from 27.9 weeks in the same period of 2025.” Source
• Housing Act 1980 s.89 — “Where a court makes an order for the possession of any land in a case not falling within the exceptions mentioned in subsection (2) below, the giving up of possession shall not be postponed (whether by the order or any variation, suspension or stay of execution) to a date later than fourteen days after the making of the order, unless it appears to the court that exceptional hardship would be caused by requiring possession to be given up by that date; and shall not in any event be postponed to a date later than six weeks after the making of the order.” Source
• GOV.UK, Evicting tenants in England — “Your tenant does not have to leave during the notice period.” Source
• GOV.UK landlord guidance on notices before 1 May 2026 — “If you made your possession claim using the accelerated process using Form N5B, then neither you nor your tenant will need to attend court.” Source
• GOV.UK, Evicting tenants in England — “If you do not apply to the court in time, the section 21 notice will become invalid and the tenancy will be an assured periodic tenancy.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.5 — “Where an order of the court for possession of the dwelling-house is obtained, the tenancy ends when the order is executed.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 s.180 — “(a) before the contract ends, and during the period of 28 days starting with the day on which the notice was given, the landlord withdraws the notice by giving further notice to the contract-holder, or” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 s.177 — “The landlord may not give another notice under section 173 to the contract-holder before the end of the period of six months starting with the day on which the first notice was withdrawn, other than in accordance with subsection (3).” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.21, version to 30 April 2026 — “Where a court makes an order for possession of a dwelling-house by virtue of subsection (4) above, the assured shorthold tenancy shall end in accordance with section 5(1A).” Source
• English Housing Survey 2024 to 2025, private rented sector pre-Renters’ Rights Act overview — “Of private renters whose tenancy ended in the last 3 years, almost half (45%) said their landlord or agent asked them to leave by issuing a Section 21 notice, 37% said they were asked to leave informally and 19% said their landlord or agent used another method to ask them to leave, including the existing Section 8 grounds, Annex Table 2.4.” Source