For UK landlords, letting agents & inventory clerks
If you came here for a Section 21 notice template, there is no longer one to give you. Section 21 "no-fault" evictions were abolished in England on 1 May 2026, when the main provisions of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 commenced. The last day a Section 21 notice could lawfully be served was 30 April 2026, and the last date to apply to court on a notice served before the change was 31 July 2026.
No new claim can be brought on a pre-May notice, though claims issued on or before 31 July 2026 are still running to conclusion. Every possession claim started now goes through Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988: you need a legal ground, evidence for it, and the correct notice period. This page sets out what applies today and the procedural traps that cause claims to fail.
This is general information, not legal advice. Possession law is unforgiving about detail. Take advice on your specific facts before serving anything.
Last reviewed 22 August 2026 · checked against GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk
Fixed terms are gone. Every private assured tenancy is now periodic and rolling with no end date, and you cannot end one because a term expired. The tenant can leave on 2 months' notice. Rent rises only by a Section 13 notice on prescribed form 4A, at least 2 months ahead and no more than once every 12 months; rent review clauses are void and the tenant can refer the increase to the First-tier Tribunal. New tenancies need a written statement of terms.
To end an assured tenancy you serve a Section 8 notice of seeking possession on form 3A, or a form substantially to the like effect. It must name every ground relied on, set out each ground's wording in full, and give particulars — enough detail that the tenant knows the allegation and, where relevant, could put it right.
Two timing rules matter. Where you rely on several grounds, the notice period is the longest one that applies. And a notice lasts 12 months: if you have not asked the court to issue a claim within 12 months of giving it, you must start again.
The court can dispense with the notice requirement where it is just and equitable, but not for grounds 7A, 7B or 8.
Two restrictions sit on the moving-in and selling grounds (1 and 1A) and catch people out: neither can require possession in the first 12 months of the tenancy, and once you use either you cannot market or re-let the property for 12 months.
Mandatory grounds — if proved, the court must order possession:
Discretionary grounds — the court must also find it reasonable:
Deposit compliance now gates the possession order. The court cannot make an order unless the deposit is held in an authorised scheme with the scheme's requirements met and the prescribed information given — or the deposit has been returned in full, returned with deductions the tenant agreed, or the tenant's deposit claim has been determined, withdrawn or settled. Grounds 7A and 14 are the exceptions.
That test is applied when the court decides whether to make the order, not when you serve. So a breach found after service is curable before the hearing; you do not automatically have to start again. Serving with the deposit already in order is still far safer.
Gas safety certificates, EPCs and HMO licensing no longer invalidate a possession notice. Those duties still exist and carry their own penalties — they simply no longer gate possession. The How to Rent guide is different: it was withdrawn on 1 May 2026 and survives only for tenancies where a Section 21 notice was served before that date. Its role passed to the written statement of terms for new tenancies and the Information Sheet for existing ones.
The Act also creates a Private Rented Sector Database, and registration is intended to become a precondition for using certain grounds. It has not commenced — check its status before relying on it.
Civil penalties run to £7,000 for procedural and administrative breaches — failing to provide required written terms or the information sheet, serving notice incorrectly, or trying to end a tenancy in a way the law does not permit. Serious breaches and offences reach £40,000 or prosecution. Knowingly or recklessly misusing a possession ground, such as claiming you intend to sell or move a relative in when you do not, is a criminal offence, and rent repayment orders now reach two years' rent.
The oldest rule still stands: you cannot evict without a court order and, if needed, bailiffs or High Court enforcement officers. Changing locks or pressuring a tenant out is an offence under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.
The accelerated, paper-only procedure went with Section 21. Every claim now follows the standard route: issue, hearing, prove the ground. The court fee to issue a possession claim is £415, the tenant has 14 days to file a defence, and you must file your documents at least 14 days before the hearing. With listing delays, a realistic timeline from notice to recovery is months, not weeks.
Two changes have made the end-of-tenancy record more important, not less. Deposit compliance now gates possession, so deposits and the disputes attached to them sit on the critical path. And with no no-fault route, more endings turn on evidence: Ground 13 deterioration, Ground 12 breach, and disrepair counterclaims raised in answer to an arrears claim.
In a deposit dispute the burden of proof is on the landlord. The adjudicator does not visit the property. They compare a check-in record against a check-out record and decide what changed. Without a dated, itemised, photographed starting point, a deduction claim usually fails — and claims to fully replace an item that was already part-worn at check-in fail on betterment and fair wear and tear even where damage is obvious. The same evidence, produced the same way, supports a Ground 13 case and rebuts an inflated disrepair counterclaim.
That record only works if it is consistent across a portfolio. That is the problem AI-assisted inventory and check-out reports — what The Property AI does — are built to solve: photograph-led inspections producing a dated, comparable condition record at check-in, mid-term and check-out.
None of the above applies outside England. Wales moved first: under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 tenants are contract-holders on occupation contracts, and the no-fault Section 173 notice still exists — but it requires 6 months' notice and cannot be served in the first 6 months of occupation, so a contract-holder on a contract starting on or after 1 December 2022 effectively has a minimum year in the property. Scotland abolished no-fault eviction for private residential tenancies in December 2017; possession is grounds-based and decided by the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland rather than the courts. Northern Ireland operates a separate regime again.
Wherever you are, treat this page as orientation rather than instruction. The penalties attached to a defective notice are now high enough that advice on your specific facts is the cheaper option.
No. Section 21 was abolished in England on 1 May 2026. The last day one could lawfully be served was 30 April 2026. Any document served as a Section 21 notice after that date has no legal effect, and attempting to end a tenancy by a route the law does not allow can itself attract a civil penalty.
Only if you already issued a claim. Transitional rules allowed landlords to apply to court on a pre-1 May notice until 31 July 2026, and claims issued by then continue to conclusion. That deadline has passed, so if you did not issue by then the notice has lapsed and you must start again with a Section 8 notice on one of the current grounds.
You use Ground 1A, which is mandatory and requires four months' notice. You cannot use it to require possession within the first 12 months of the tenancy, and once you have used it you cannot market or re-let the property for 12 months. Using the ground when you do not genuinely intend to sell is a criminal offence.
No. Since 1 May 2026 the mandatory arrears threshold is three months, or 13 weeks where rent is paid weekly or fortnightly, and the arrears must still be at that level at the hearing. At two months you would rely on Ground 10 for any arrears or Ground 11 for persistent late payment, both discretionary with four weeks' notice.
Gas safety certificates and EPCs are still required and carry their own penalties, but failing to provide them no longer invalidates a possession notice as it did under Section 21. The How to Rent guide is different: it was withdrawn on 1 May 2026 and is no longer a document to serve, except for tenancies where a Section 21 notice was served before then. New tenancies need a written statement of terms instead.
Yes, while it stays unprotected — but it is curable. The condition is tested when the court decides whether to make the order, not when you serve notice. Protecting the deposit properly and giving the prescribed information, or returning the deposit in full or with deductions the tenant agrees, before the hearing lets the court make the order. Grounds 7A and 14 are exceptions.
Every figure and date on this page was checked against these primary sources on 22 August 2026. Law and rates change — verify before you act.
14-day free trial · No credit card required
We use cookies that are necessary for this site to work. We would also like to set optional analytics cookies to understand how the site is used. See our Privacy Policy.