Is Section 21 still valid? The 1 May 2026 abolition, and what to do instead

In England, Section 21 “no fault” eviction has ended for new notices, and the remaining transition window for old notices has also closed. The practical question now is not whether Section 21 still exists, but whether a landlord has an already-filed court claim or must use the post-abolition possession grounds.

Is a Section 21 notice still valid?

A Section 21 notice is no longer valid as a new route to evict a tenant in England, because Section 21 was repealed from 1 May 2026 and landlords can no longer serve Section 21 notices. The clearest legal line is that “Section 21 is repealed by section 2(b) of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025,” and the government’s landlord guidance says: “You can no longer issue section 21 notices for existing and new tenancies from 1 May 2026.” That means Section 21 evictions, Section 21 no-fault eviction, and fresh “no fault” possession notices are no longer allowed in England. A historic notice is different from a new notice, but the deadline to start a new court application on an old notice has now passed. Wales ended no-fault eviction differently in December 2022 through its own six-month notice route; Scotland never had Section 21 and requires a stated ground; Northern Ireland never had Section 21 but still has a genuine no-fault Notice to Quit with notice length tiered by tenancy age.

When was the deadline for serving a Section 21 notice, and is one served before it still good?

The deadline to act on a pre-abolition Section 21 notice has passed: 30 April 2026 was the last day to serve one in England, and 31 July 2026 was the absolute last day to make a new court application on one. The government’s guidance states: “You can no longer issue section 21 notices for existing and new tenancies from 1 May 2026,” and also says: “31 July 2026 was the last date on which you could make an application.” A notice served before 1 May 2026 was not automatically useless on abolition day, but it only survived for the applicable transition period: the earlier of six months from the notice or three months from 1 May 2026. That is why the 31 July 2026 long-stop mattered. A possession claim already filed with the court before that date can still be working through the system now; what is barred is a new application after the deadline.

What has replaced Section 21?

Section 21 has been replaced in England by open-ended assured periodic tenancies and possession only through Section 8 grounds, so a landlord now needs a recognised legal reason rather than a no-fault notice. The government’s implementation roadmap says tenants can stay “for as long as they want, or until a landlord serves a valid section 8 notice.” In practical terms, the alternative to a Section 21 notice is a Section 8 notice using the ground that matches the situation: rent arrears, sale, landlord occupation, serious breach, anti-social behaviour, redevelopment, or another statutory ground. Where the ground is rent arrears, having a running arrears record against the tenancy — the kind Abodient keeps automatically — gives a landlord the payment history a Section 8 claim needs, rather than reconstructing it from bank statements after the fact. Landlords traded a faster no-fault process for a slower ground-based court route: the NRLA, citing Ministry of Justice data, reported that the average time from claim issue to a private landlord getting the property back under Section 8 was 33.7 weeks in 2025. No post-Act possession case had reached a concluded hearing by the end of July 2026, so the new grounds’ court treatment is still developing.

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• Renters' Rights Act 2025 commencement regulations — “Section 21 is repealed by section 2(b) of the Renters' Rights Act 2025.” Source
• GOV.UK guidance on giving notice of possession before 1 May 2026 — “You can no longer issue section 21 notices for existing and new tenancies from 1 May 2026.” Source
• Renters' Rights Act 2025 schedule 6 paragraph 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 guidance on giving notice of possession before 1 May 2026 — “31 July 2026 was the last date on which you could make an application.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 section 174 — “(1)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
• Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 — “The First-tier Tribunal is to issue an eviction order against the tenant under a private residential tenancy if, on an application by the landlord, it finds that one of the eviction grounds named in schedule 3 applies.” Source
• Private Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 article 14 — “(a)8 weeks, if the tenancy has not been in existence for more than 12 months;” Source
• GOV.UK Renters' Rights Act 2025 implementation roadmap — “This means tenants will be able to stay in their property for as long as they want, or until a landlord serves a valid section 8 notice.” Source
• NRLA report on Section 8 court wait times — “The average (mean) time from a claim being issued by the county court to a private landlord repossessing a property under the Section 8 process to them actually getting the property back was around 33.7 weeks.” Source