Section 21 Notice: What Happened After 1 May 2026

What actually changed on 1 May 2026

Before 1 May 2026, a landlord could serve a section 21 notice on an assured shorthold tenancy without giving any reason, provided the usual prerequisites — deposit protection, a gas safety record, an EPC, the How to Rent guide, no outstanding improvement notice — were in order. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 removed that route entirely and, at the same commencement date, converted every existing assured shorthold tenancy into a rolling assured tenancy with no fixed end date. From 1 May 2026, gov.uk’s guidance is direct: a landlord can only give a tenant a notice under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, and needs a “reason, known as a ground for possession, to end the tenancy.” There is no transitional grace period for new notices — a section 21 notice dated on or after 1 May 2026 has no legal effect at all.

What happened to a section 21 notice served before 1 May 2026

The Act's own transitional rules, Schedule 6, treat an already-served section 21 notice differently depending on whether court proceedings had already been requested before commencement:

If you're a tenant still holding an old section 21 notice

Two things are worth checking before assuming anything. First, whether your landlord actually asked the court to issue a claim form before " + COMM + " — if they did, the notice can still carry that specific case to conclusion under the old rules, however old it now looks. Second, if they hadn't, the backstop above means the notice itself is now spent: your landlord cannot revive it, and cannot simply re-send the same notice under section 21, because section 21 no longer exists as a route at all. Anything that happens next has to be a fresh section 8 notice, on the prescribed form, naming a ground — see our section 8 notice guide for what that has to contain. If you're unsure which category your notice falls into, or a landlord is pressuring you to leave on the strength of an old section 21 notice, Shelter's free helpline and website can check your specific paperwork against the transitional rules.

What landlords use instead

Section 8 requires a ground — a specific, gov.uk-listed reason, each with its own notice period. The two grounds that most directly replace the old “no reason needed” section 21 are Ground 1 (the landlord or a close family member wants to move in) and Ground 1A (the landlord wants to sell), both mandatory, both requiring 4 months’ notice, and both unavailable in the tenancy’s first 12 months — see our no-fault eviction, explained page for the detail and the penalties for misusing them. For rent arrears, breach of tenancy, antisocial behaviour, redevelopment and a dozen other situations, a different ground applies with its own notice period — the complete list is on our section 8 grounds for possession table, and how to actually serve the notice is on our section 8 notice page.

England only

This page covers England. Section 21 and the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 do not apply in Scotland, which has run its own no-fault-free Private Residential Tenancy system since 2017, or in Wales, where the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 sets a different notice regime (including its own “no fault” section 173 notice, with its own rules). We don't cover the Scottish or Welsh detail on this page — check gov.scot or gov.wales for those.

read 12 September 2026: Repossessing your privately rented property after 1 May 2026 (GOV.UK) · Renters’ Rights Act 2025, Schedule 6 — transitional provision (legislation.gov.uk) · Grounds for possession: guidance for landlords and letting agents (GOV.UK)