Section 21 Is Gone. Here’s What Actually Replaces It

Since 1 May 2026, "no-fault" Section 21 eviction no longer exists in England. Every assured shorthold tenancy became a rolling periodic tenancy, and any notice a landlord serves now has to rely on a specific legal ground. This is the single biggest change in the Renters' Rights Act 2025, and it changes how every tenancy in England actually works, not just how it ends.

What actually changed

Fixed-term tenancies were abolished alongside Section 21. There's no more waiting for a term to end, and no more serving notice simply because a landlord wants the property back. Every possession claim now has to point to a specific ground under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, as rewritten by the Act, and prove it to a court.

If you served a valid Section 21 notice before the cut-off, it can still work its way through — but no new ones can be issued, and as of 1 August 2026 the courts stopped accepting fresh applications based on notices served under the old rules.

The grounds landlords actually use

• Rent arrears (Ground 8) — the tenant must owe at least three months' rent (thirteen weeks if paid weekly), both when notice is served and at the hearing. Arrears caused solely by a delayed Universal Credit payment don't count.
• Landlord wants to sell, or move in a family member (Grounds 1 and 1A) — four months' notice required, can't be used in the tenancy's first 12 months, and using it locks the property out of re-letting or re-marketing for 12 months afterward.
• Serious rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, and a handful of other specific circumstances each have their own ground, evidence standard, and notice period.

Why evidence matters more now

Courts won't award possession on most grounds unless the deposit has been correctly protected — this isn't new, but it's now a harder gatekeeper than it used to be, since there's no Section 21 shortcut left to fall back on if paperwork is thin. Rent schedules, correspondence, and inspection records are what actually win or lose a case now.

What this means day to day

For a well-run tenancy, not much changes in practice — a landlord with genuine grounds and clean records was never relying on Section 21 as a first resort anyway. What it does mean is that sloppy record-keeping, informal agreements, and "we'll sort the deposit out later" habits are far more exposed than they used to be.