For nearly four decades in England, your landlord could ask you to leave without giving a reason. They handed you a Section 21 notice, you had two months to move out, and if you didn't go, a court gave them the keys. It was the most common way private landlords ended a tenancy.
That ended on 1 May 2026. There was no grace period and no phase-in. The last day a landlord could legally serve a Section 21 was 30 April 2026, and anything dated after that carries no legal weight.
Can a Section 21 notice served before 1 May 2026 still be used?
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 switched Section 21 off on 1 May 2026. The last day a landlord could legally hand you a Section 21 notice was 30 April 2026.
If you were served a Section 21 before that date, the notice can still be used, but the window is closing. Your landlord must start a court claim within 6 months of the date the notice was served, or by 31 July 2026, whichever comes first. After that deadline the notice is dead, and a landlord who wants you out has to start again under the new system.
So if you had a notice earlier this year and you're panicking, check the date on the envelope. A Section 21 served in March 2026 can still reach court, but only if your landlord files the claim by 31 July 2026. A Section 21 "served" in June 2026 is a piece of paper with no legal weight behind it.
What replaces Section 21
Your landlord can still evict you after 1 May. They need a reason, and the reason has to be one the law recognises. These reasons are called grounds for possession under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, and the Renters' Rights Act has expanded them.
The grounds fall into two groups.
Fault-based grounds. Things you've allegedly done wrong:
- Rent arrears (now at three months, up from two, with four weeks' notice instead of two).
- Antisocial behaviour.
- Damage to the property.
- Breaching the tenancy agreement.
The landlord has to prove the ground in court. If you're one month behind on rent, that's not enough to trigger eviction on its own.
No-fault grounds. Things that have nothing to do with you:
- The landlord wants to sell (Ground 1A).
- The landlord, or a close family member, wants to move in (Ground 1).
Both come with strings attached. The landlord must give four months' notice, and neither ground can be used in the first 12 months of a new tenancy. On Grounds 1 and 1A, the landlord is also banned from re-letting or re-marketing the property for 12 months, and that ban covers short-term lets like Airbnb. A landlord who claims to be selling and then flips the property to Airbnb is breaking the law and can be fined up to £7,000, rising to £40,000 or criminal prosecution if the breach continues or repeats.
All of this is new ground. Courts will spend much of 2026 and into 2027 working out how to weigh the evidence for each ground and how strictly to apply the protected periods, and early cases will set the tone. If your landlord tries to use one of these against you in the first year, get advice before you accept the notice at face value.
What to do if you've received a Section 21 notice
If you're holding one right now, here's how to read it.
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Check when you received it. A Section 21 had to be served on you on or before 30 April 2026 to be valid. "Served" means the date the notice reached you, whether by hand, through the letterbox, or by email if your tenancy allows it. The date your landlord typed at the top doesn't count. A notice written on 28 April but not delivered until 2 May carries no legal weight.
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Check the formalities. Section 21 notices must give at least two months' notice. They also require your landlord to have protected your deposit, given you a gas safety certificate, an EPC, and the How to Rent guide that was current when the notice was served. If any of that was missed, the notice is probably invalid.
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Don't move out on the notice date by reflex. A Section 21 notice doesn't evict you by itself. It starts a process. If the notice is valid, your landlord still has to apply to court by 31 July 2026 at the latest, get a possession order, and then apply for bailiffs if you haven't left. That can take months, and in most cases you stay in the property until each stage finishes. There's a trade-off to weigh, though. If the case goes to court and the landlord wins, you may be ordered to cover their court fees, which are £404 for an accelerated possession claim, plus bailiff costs if it gets that far. Pushing things all the way to bailiffs is also stressful. Check whether the notice is valid first, then decide what to do with the time it buys you.
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Get the notice checked. Before you do anything else, get someone who knows the rules to look at it. Remedy can check whether it's valid, flag the specific requirement your landlord might have missed, and tell you what your options look like. If you're at genuine risk of having nowhere to go, contact your local council's housing options team as well. They have a statutory duty to help.
Can my landlord still evict me under the Renters' Rights Act?
Since 1 May 2026, your landlord has needed a legal reason before they can ask you to leave, and for the no-fault grounds they have to give you four months to find somewhere new. Under the old rules, a Section 21 could land with no reason given and a two-month deadline attached. Neither of those is true any more.
It doesn't mean every tenancy becomes permanent. If your landlord genuinely needs to sell or move back in after the first year, they can still do that. The difference is you'll see it coming and you'll have time to plan.
