Section 21 Notice Explained

A Section 21 notice was served under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988. It allowed a landlord to recover possession of a private rented property at the end of a fixed-term tenancy, or during a periodic tenancy, without having to prove any fault on the tenant's part. This is why it was often called a "no-fault eviction." Since 1 May 2026 no new Section 21 notice can be served.

The notice had to give you at least two months to leave. During a fixed-term tenancy, a Section 21 notice could not take effect before the fixed term ended. Once the notice period expired, if you remained in the property, the landlord could not remove you without first obtaining a possession order from the court.

It is important to understand that receiving a Section 21 notice did not mean you had to leave immediately, and the same applies to an older notice that is still the basis of a continuing claim. You have legal rights throughout this process, and the landlord had to follow correct procedure at every stage or the notice would be invalid.

This is historic law. No new Section 21 notice can be served after its abolition on 1 May 2026, and no new possession claim can be started on an older notice — the transitional window for asking the court to issue a claim form closed on 31 July 2026 at the latest. A claim the landlord asked the court to issue in time continues until the proceedings are concluded, so the conditions below matter only in those older claims. This section is kept for reference. If you are facing a possession claim now, check with the court whether it is one of those older claims; otherwise your landlord must rely on a Section 8 ground instead — see the Renters' Rights Act guide for the current routes to possession.

Before abolition, a landlord had to satisfy several conditions for a Section 21 notice to be valid. If any condition was not met, the notice was invalid and could not be used to evict the tenant. These conditions included:

• Deposit protection: The deposit had to be held in a government-approved scheme and the tenant given the prescribed information about it within 30 days of payment.
• How to Rent guide: The landlord had to have given the tenant the most up-to-date version of the government's "How to Rent" guide at the start of the tenancy.
• Energy Performance Certificate: A valid EPC had to have been provided before the tenant moved in.
• Gas safety certificate: If there was a gas supply, a current gas safety certificate had to have been provided. A landlord who had not given a new tenant the record before they moved in could still serve a valid notice if a copy of the record of the most recent gas safety check was given to the tenant before or with the notice (Trecarrell House Ltd v Rouncefield [2020] EWCA Civ 760, Court of Appeal, by a majority); if the tenant did not receive it until after the notice, the notice was invalid.
• Correct form: The notice had to be on Form 6A (for periodic or fixed-term ASTs) and completed correctly.
• Timing: The notice could not be served in the first four months of the tenancy, and could not be relied on if the landlord did not ask the court to issue a possession claim within the applicable period (generally six months from when the notice was given, or for some periodic-tenancy notices four months from the date specified in the notice; 31 July 2026 at the latest).

This protection is now historic. The Deregulation Act 2015 introduced protections against retaliatory eviction that applied while Section 21 still existed: where a tenant had made a written complaint to the landlord about a repair or condition issue and the landlord had not adequately responded, the landlord was prevented from serving a valid Section 21 notice for six months. That protection also applied where the local authority had served an improvement or emergency remedial notice on the property.

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 abolished Section 21 entirely on 1 May 2026, for existing tenancies as well as new ones, replacing the no-fault route with a system requiring specific statutory grounds for possession. The transitional window for relying on a Section 21 notice served before that date — which required the landlord to have asked the court to issue a possession claim within the applicable period (31 July 2026 at the latest) — has now closed, so no new possession claim can be started on a Section 21 notice, retaliatory or otherwise (a claim the landlord asked the court to issue in time continues until the proceedings are concluded). If your landlord is retaliating against a repair complaint now, the relevant protection is the bar on certain Section 8 grounds being used in the same circumstances — get advice from Shelter or Citizens Advice on how that applies to your case.

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 abolished Section 21 "no-fault" evictions in England. This means landlords can no longer evict tenants without giving a specific reason. New possession claims must now be made under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, using one of the specified grounds for possession.

Transitional provisions applied to Section 21 notices served before the commencement date of 1 May 2026, but landlords had to ask the court to issue a claim within the applicable period (31 July 2026 at the latest) to rely on them — that window has now closed, so no new possession claim can be started on a Section 21 notice (a claim the landlord asked the court to issue in time continues until the proceedings are concluded). Any Section 21 notice served after the Act came into force is invalid. Landlords must now rely on grounds such as moving in (Ground 1), selling the property (Ground 1A), or rent arrears (Ground 8). This is the most significant change to private renting law in over 30 years.

Although Section 21 has been abolished, its legacy matters for tenants who received notices before the Renters' Rights Act 2025 came fully into force, and for anyone reviewing the validity of older proceedings.

Transitional provisions: notices served before commencement

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 included transitional provisions that affected how the abolition applied to existing tenancies. Broadly:

• A Section 21 notice served before the commencement date of 1 May 2026 could still be used in possession proceedings — but only if the landlord asked the court to issue a claim within the applicable period (31 July 2026 at the latest). That deadline has passed, so a pre-abolition notice for which the landlord did not ask the court to issue a claim in time can no longer be relied upon.
• Any Section 21 notice served on or after 1 May 2026 is invalid and cannot be relied upon.
• If you are unsure how these rules apply to proceedings already under way against you, check with Shelter or Citizens Advice.

How to challenge a Section 21 notice served before abolition

Even for notices served before abolition, a significant proportion are invalid due to procedural failures. If you received a Section 21 notice and it predates the abolition, check each of the validity requirements:

1. Was your deposit protected in a government-approved scheme within 30 days of payment?
2. Did you receive the prescribed information about the deposit scheme?
3. Did you receive the current "How to Rent" guide at the start of the tenancy?
4. Did you receive a valid Energy Performance Certificate before moving in?
5. Were you given a copy of the record of the most recent gas safety check before or with the notice (if applicable)? Not receiving a record before you moved in does not by itself make the notice invalid: a copy of the latest record given to you before or with the notice was enough (Trecarrell House Ltd v Rouncefield [2020] EWCA Civ 760, Court of Appeal, by a majority).
6. Was the notice served on the correct form (Form 6A)?
7. Was the notice served more than four months into the tenancy?
8. Has a written complaint about repairs been made to the landlord in the last six months (retaliatory eviction protection)?

If any of these conditions were not met, the notice is invalid. Raise this in any court proceedings. Shelter and Citizens Advice can help you check each condition.