Section 8 or Section 21: the difference, and whether you can serve both

In England, Section 8 and Section 21 were Housing Act 1988 possession routes, but Section 21 has now been abolished for private assured tenancies. Wales uses a section 173 no-reason notice, Scotland uses a notice to leave on a Schedule 3 ground, and Northern Ireland uses a written notice to quit.

What is the difference between a Section 8 notice and a Section 21 notice?

A Section 8 notice is a grounds-based possession notice, while a Section 21 notice was the old no-fault route that did not require the landlord to prove rent arrears, breach or another Schedule 2 ground. For Section 8, the Housing Act 1988 says: “The court shall not make an order for possession on any of the grounds in Schedule 2 to this Act unless that ground and particulars of it are specified in the notice under this section; but the grounds specified in such a notice may be altered or added to with the leave of the court.” By contrast, the pre-abolition Section 21 route required at least two months’ written notice: “the landlord or, in the case of joint landlords, at least one of them has given to the tenant not less than two months’ notice in writing stating that he requires possession of the dwelling-house.” That is the practical answer to what a Section 8 and Section 21 were: Section 8 needed a legal reason; Section 21 was possession without proving one. Abodient can hold the rent account and tenancy record that a Section 8 ground like arrears actually depends on, since the notice itself has to state the ground and the evidence behind it.

Which do you use now, Section 8 or Section 21?

For private assured tenancies, Section 21 was abolished from 1 May 2026, and after 31 July 2026 even a valid pre-1-May Section 21 notice could no longer start a new possession claim. The current rule is Section 8: GOV.UK says, “Since 1 May 2026 you can only give your tenant a notice under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 to end the tenancy,” and the commencement instrument says Chapter 1 of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 came into force “on 1st May 2026, for the purposes of tenancies which are not social housing assured tenancies (‘private assured tenancies’) only.” Section 8 is therefore not just better now; it is the only current private-route answer where a landlord needs possession. Social-housing assured tenancies held by private registered providers continue under the old Section 8 and Section 21 rules until October 2027: GOV.UK says PRPs “must continue to follow the existing rules that were in place prior to 1 May 2026.”

Can you serve a Section 8 and a Section 21 together, or one after the other?

You cannot serve a Section 8 and Section 21 together now for a private assured tenancy, because Section 21 no longer exists for that route from 1 May 2026. GOV.UK states the current position plainly: “Landlords cannot use section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to seek possession of their property.” Before abolition, there was no statutory bar on serving a Section 21 and Section 8 at the same time, or issuing a Section 8 notice after a Section 21; the old Section 21 wording preserved the landlord’s separate Chapter I rights “without prejudice to any right of the landlord under an assured shorthold tenancy to recover possession.” The old practice still mattered tactically, because parallel claims could irritate the court: Landmark Chambers summarised the risk as “no legal bar” but warned that a court might be “reluctant to make an order” until satisfied the tenant was not prejudiced by two sets of proceedings. That is now history for private assured tenancies, not current service advice.

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• Housing Act 1988 s.8 — “The court shall not make an order for possession on any of the grounds in Schedule 2 to this Act unless that ground and particulars of it are specified in the notice under this section; but the grounds specified in such a notice may be altered or added to with the leave of the court.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.21, version at 30 April 2026 — “(b)the landlord or, in the case of joint landlords, at least one of them has given to the tenant not less than two months’ notice in writing stating that he requires possession of the dwelling-house.” Source
• The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 1 and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/421 — “Regulation 2 brings into force Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the 2025 Act, except section 25(3), on 1st May 2026, for the purposes of tenancies which are not social housing assured tenancies (‘private assured tenancies’) only.” Source
• The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 1 and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/421 — “Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the 2025 Act makes various changes to the Housing Act 1988 (c. 50) (‘the 1988 Act’), including the abolition of fixed term and shorthold assured tenancies, so that all tenancies under that Act will now be assured periodic tenancies, and the abolition of ‘section 21 evictions’ (also known as ‘no fault evictions’).” Source
• GOV.UK, Repossessing your privately rented property after 1 May 2026 — “Since 1 May 2026 you can only give your tenant a notice under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 to end the tenancy.” Source
• GOV.UK, Giving notice of possession to tenants before 1 May 2026 — “After 31 July 2026 you will not usually be able to use a section 21 notice to start an eviction process.” Source
• GOV.UK, Implementing the Renters’ Rights Act: social housing — “Until October 2027, for social housing assured tenancies, PRPs must continue to follow the existing rules that were in place prior to 1 May 2026.” Source
• GOV.UK, Repossessing your privately rented property after 1 May 2026 — “Landlords cannot use section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to seek possession of their property.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.21, version at 30 April 2026 — “Without prejudice to any right of the landlord under an assured shorthold tenancy to recover possession of the dwelling-house let on the tenancy in accordance with Chapter I above, on or after the coming to an end of an assured shorthold tenancy which was a fixed term tenancy, a court shall make an order for possession of the dwelling-house if it is satisfied—” Source
• Landmark Chambers, Section 21 or a 2-for-1? — “While there is no legal bar to a landlord issuing proceedings under section 8 and section 21 of the HA 1988, there is an inherent risk that the court, once appraised of the existence of parallel proceedings, will be reluctant to make an order without satisfying itself that the tenant will not be prejudiced by there being two sets of proceedings on foot, let alone two orders for possession.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.1A — “Accordingly, subject to subsection (3), nothing in sections 1 to 25 of this Act applies to a dwelling-house in Wales.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 s.173 — “The landlord under a periodic standard contract may end the contract by giving the contract-holder notice that he or she must give up possession of the dwelling on a date specified in the notice.” Source
• Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 s.51 — “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
• NI Direct, Private rent and tenancies — “A landlord must always provide the tenant with a written notice to quit, except in the case of a fixed term tenancy.” Source