Quick Answers
Is Section 21 really abolished for all landlords?
Yes, from 1 May 2026. The notice has been repealed. No landlord can serve a Section 21 notice on any assured periodic tenancy. Existing fixed-term tenancies that were in place on 1 May 2026 converted to periodic tenancies automatically. Section 8 is the only possession route for assured tenancies in England from that date.
What Section 8 ground replaces Section 21 for "no fault" possession?
Ground 1A is the new mandatory ground introduced by the RRA for landlords who genuinely intend to sell the property. It gives mandatory possession but with a four-month notice period and is limited to one use per property per ten years. It does not cover the full range of situations where Section 21 was used. For landlords who simply want vacant possession without any specific reason, no equivalent ground exists.
How long does Section 8 possession take now?
From notice to possession order: approximately five to eight months in London county courts for an undefended Ground 8 (rent arrears) claim, based on the first six months of cases. The accelerated possession procedure that was available for Section 21 claims does not apply to Section 8. Courts are adapting to higher volumes and the picture will change as the system adjusts.
The structural change: Section 21 allowed landlords to recover possession without giving a reason, provided the tenancy was on the correct basis and the procedural requirements were met. Section 8 requires a valid statutory ground — a specific reason drawn from the schedule of grounds in the Housing Act 1988. Every Section 8 possession claim requires an articulable, evidenced reason. Landlords who relied on Section 21 as a general exit mechanism must now ensure they have grounds before they need them, rather than reaching for a notice after the decision to end the tenancy has already been made.
The early experience: the most common failures in the first six months are prerequisite failures — notices served without a protected deposit, from landlords with an expired HMO licence, or without the prescribed information having been correctly served. These failures void the notice. The second most common issue is landlords relying on grounds that require more evidence than they have collected — Ground 14 antisocial behaviour claims where the incident log is inadequate, or Ground 1A sale claims where the landlord cannot demonstrate genuine sale intention.
Key Takeaways
The prerequisite checklist is now the single most important compliance task
A Section 8 notice served without a protected deposit, without the prescribed information, or from a landlord with an expired licence is void. The court will not overlook these prerequisites — they are absolute bars to the notice being valid. The pattern emerging from the first six months of post-RRA cases is that prerequisite failures are the most common reason for notices being challenged successfully. Landlords who have been managing tenancies informally for years, without confirming the prerequisites are in place, are discovering this at the worst possible time — when they need to recover possession.
Ground 8 (rent arrears) remains the fastest mandatory ground
For landlords dealing with a tenant who is paying no rent, Ground 8 remains the most reliable route to mandatory possession. The requirements are straightforward — at least two months' arrears at the date of notice and at the date of the hearing — and the ground is mandatory (no judicial discretion to refuse possession if the ground is made out and prerequisites are met). The two-week notice period before proceedings can be issued makes this the fastest Section 8 route. In a straightforward undefended case, the process from notice to possession order can run in under six months where court capacity permits.
Ground 1A (intention to sell) is narrower than many landlords assume
Ground 1A was introduced as the primary "no fault" possession route — the closest thing to a replacement for Section 21. But it is not a like-for-like replacement. It requires a genuine intention to sell the property with vacant possession, carries a four-month notice period, is limited to one use per property per ten years, and prohibits the landlord from re-letting the property within three months of the possession order. Landlords who intend to sell legitimately can use it. Landlords who are using a claimed sale intention as a pretext to remove a particular tenant face serious legal risk — courts will examine the genuineness of the sale intention and a landlord who re-lets within three months will face significant consequences.
Discretionary grounds require evidence — start collecting it early
Ground 14 (antisocial behaviour) and similar discretionary grounds require the court to exercise discretion in the landlord's favour. Discretion means the court will consider whether it is reasonable to grant possession. An incident log documenting the behaviour, complaints from neighbours, police reports where available, and evidence of the landlord's attempts to address the behaviour informally before resorting to Section 8 all strengthen the case. A landlord who has not documented behaviour at all and then serves a Section 8 notice relying on Ground 14 has a weak case regardless of how serious the behaviour actually was.
Courts are busier and processing times are longer than Section 21 accelerated claims
The Section 21 accelerated possession procedure allowed straightforward possession claims to be dealt with on paper without a hearing. Section 8 does not have an equivalent accelerated procedure — all claims are listed for hearing, adding to the court's workload and extending the timeline. County courts in London and the South East are working through higher volumes of Section 8 claims than before the abolition, and hearing dates are typically several months after the claim is issued. This means the total possession timeline is longer than many landlords experienced with Section 21 even where the Section 8 process runs without problems.
The tenant's right to challenge on affordability and conduct is real and being used
Ground 8 rent arrears claims can be defended by tenants who dispute the amount of arrears, who can demonstrate that a deposit was unlawfully retained reducing the amount outstanding, or who can show that the benefit payments claimed were late due to delays outside their control. Grounds 1 and 1A claims can be defended by tenants who can demonstrate the landlord does not genuinely intend to sell. Tenants are better advised than they were a decade ago and tenant advocacy organisations are actively supporting Section 8 defences. Landlords should ensure their claims are watertight — clean prerequisite position, correct notice form, solid evidence for the ground relied on — rather than assuming an uncontested outcome.
What Changed on 1 May 2026
Three changes took effect simultaneously on 1 May 2026 that together define the new possession landscape:
- Section 21 was repealed. The Housing Act 1988's section 21 no longer exists. No notice can be served under it. Any Section 21 notice served on or after 1 May 2026 is void as a matter of law, regardless of how it is worded or what the tenancy agreement says.
- All existing fixed-term tenancies converted to periodic tenancies. Landlords who were mid-way through a fixed-term tenancy on 1 May 2026 no longer have the benefit of the fixed term's end date as a possession mechanism. The tenancy continues as a periodic tenancy until the tenant gives notice or the landlord obtains a possession order through Section 8.
- New Section 8 grounds were introduced. The Renters' Rights Act created several new mandatory possession grounds, including Ground 1A (genuine intention to sell) and Ground 6A (substantial redevelopment), and modified existing grounds to reflect the new periodic tenancy regime.
Landlords who served Section 21 notices in the weeks or months before the abolition date, intending to use them for possession proceedings after 1 May 2026, cannot proceed with those notices. Section 21 as a statutory basis for possession no longer exists. Any proceedings that were not completed before 1 May 2026 and that relied on a Section 21 notice must be re-started under Section 8. Possession proceedings issued before the date but not concluded will typically need to be re-pleaded if the tenancy has not been recovered by the time the matter reaches hearing.
The Section 8 Grounds: A Post-RRA Reference
| Ground | Basis, Notice Period, and How It Is Working in Practice |
|---|---|
| Ground 8 Mandatory | At least two months' rent arrears at the date of the Section 8 notice and at the date of the hearing. Two-week notice period. This remains the most commonly used ground and the fastest mandatory route. The tenant can avoid the mandatory order by paying off arrears before the hearing — landlords should monitor the arrears position between notice and hearing and be prepared for this. Ground 8 combined with Grounds 10 and 11 (arrears and persistent rent default) gives the strongest combined arrears claim. |
| Ground 1A Mandatory | New ground introduced by the RRA. The landlord intends to sell the property with vacant possession. Four-month notice period. One use per property per ten years. Re-letting within three months of the possession order is prohibited and creates significant legal consequences. Requires genuine sale intention — courts are examining the evidence. Early cases suggest courts are willing to probe the sale intention claim and refuse possession where the evidence is weak. |
| Ground 1 Mandatory | The landlord or a family member requires the property as their only or principal home. Four-month notice period. One use per property per ten years. Existing ground but now more heavily used as Section 21 alternatives are sought. Requires the landlord to have lived in the property as their home before the tenancy (for the original Ground 1) or intend to occupy it as their home (modified by the RRA). Cannot be used repeatedly to move between properties letting each one out while occupying the next. |
| Ground 6A Mandatory | New ground introduced by the RRA. The landlord intends to demolish or reconstruct the building, or carry out substantial works that cannot be carried out with the tenant in occupation. Four-month notice period. Used less frequently in the first six months than expected — the test of what constitutes "substantial works" requiring vacant possession is not yet fully defined through case law. |
| Ground 14 Discretionary | The tenant or someone living with them has been causing nuisance, annoyance, or harassment to people in the locality, or has been convicted of a criminal offence at or near the property. Discretionary — the court must consider whether it is reasonable to grant possession. No minimum notice period (notice can be served as soon as the breach arises). Evidence is critical. Incident logs, complaints from neighbours, police reports, ASBO orders all strengthen the claim. Without evidence, the court will not exercise discretion in the landlord's favour. |
Prerequisites for a Valid Section 8 Notice
A Section 8 notice that is served before all prerequisites are satisfied is void. The most common failures in the first six months of the post-RRA regime:
Deposit protected and prescribed information served. If the deposit is not in an authorised scheme, or if the prescribed information was never served or served incorrectly, the Section 8 notice is void. This is an absolute bar — it cannot be waived by the court. Remedy the deposit position and re-serve the notice once compliance is confirmed. Check every tenancy in the portfolio.
HMO licence current and valid. For HMO properties, the mandatory HMO licence must be in force at the time the notice is served and at the time of the hearing. An expired licence creates an unlicensed HMO, which is both a criminal offence and a bar to a valid Section 8 notice. Renew before expiry — a gap in licensing coverage, even of a few weeks, can void a notice that was otherwise correctly served.
Selective licence current if the property is in a designated area. The same rule as for HMO licensing — an expired or missing selective licence bars the Section 8 notice. Check current selective licensing designations for every property in an affected area. Newham's borough-wide licensing applies to all private rented properties including single-let flats.
Civil penalties discharged. Unpaid civil penalties issued by the council for housing offences must be discharged before a Section 8 notice can be valid. Check for outstanding civil penalty notices across the portfolio.
EPC in place. A current Energy Performance Certificate must be provided to the tenant at the start of the tenancy. Where the EPC was never provided or has expired, rectify this before serving notice.
Correct prescribed form used. The Section 8 notice must be on the prescribed form. Using an outdated version of the form (from before the RRA came into force) is a common error where landlords have retained template notices from before May 2026. Use the current prescribed form — available from GOV.UK. The form changed when the RRA introduced new grounds.
The Process: From Notice to Possession Order
A straightforward uncontested Section 8 Ground 8 (rent arrears) claim in a London county court in the second half of 2026 is taking approximately five to eight months from notice to possession order. The stages are:
- Serve the Section 8 notice on the correct prescribed form citing the relevant grounds, giving the required notice period (two weeks for Ground 8). Keep a copy and obtain evidence of service.
- Wait for the notice period to expire. Do not issue proceedings before the notice period has run its course — proceedings issued prematurely are defective.
- Issue the possession claim at the county court serving the area where the property is located. The claim is issued on the prescribed possession claim form and served on the tenant by the court. The court fee must be paid.
- First hearing. County courts are listing first hearings for possession claims approximately two to four months after issue, depending on court capacity. At the first hearing, the claim may be determined if undefended, or directions given for a contested hearing if the tenant has filed a defence.
- Possession order. Where the ground is made out and prerequisites satisfied, the court makes a possession order — typically suspended for 14 days to allow the tenant to vacate voluntarily. Where a mandatory ground is relied on and established, the court has no discretion to refuse the order.
- Warrant for possession if the tenant does not vacate by the date in the order. The bailiff executes the warrant and the landlord takes possession of the property.
Section 21 possession had an accelerated procedure that allowed straightforward cases to be dealt with on paper without a hearing, typically in eight to twelve weeks from issue to possession order. Section 8 has no equivalent procedure. Every claim is listed for hearing. In London and the South East, this means the minimum realistic timeline from notice to possession order for a straightforward Ground 8 claim is now five months, and in practice typically six to eight months with court backlogs. Landlords who are experiencing rent arrears should serve the Section 8 notice as soon as the two-month threshold is reached — delay at the notice stage adds directly to the total timeline.
The Early Picture From the Courts
The first six months of post-Section 21 possession cases have produced several consistent patterns. These observations are drawn from the cases and professional reports that have emerged in the first half of the post-abolition period:
- Prerequisite failures are the primary cause of notices being voided. Deposit protection failures, expired HMO licences, and prescribed information not correctly served are the most common defects. Many of these failures were present in tenancies before the abolition — landlords who relied on Section 21 as a procedural escape hatch for these failures now have no such safety net.
- Ground 1A (intention to sell) claims are being scrutinised. Courts are not accepting bald assertions of sale intention — they are examining the evidence. Landlords who have instructed estate agents, obtained valuations, or listed the property are in a stronger position than those who claim a sale intention without any corroborating steps having been taken.
- Ground 8 arrears claims are proceeding more smoothly. Where the prerequisites are in order, Ground 8 claims for significant rent arrears are proceeding through the courts in a relatively predictable way — the ground is clear, the evidence (arrears schedule) is straightforward, and undefended claims are being heard and determined efficiently. The main challenge is court capacity rather than legal complexity.
- Tenant advocates are raising prerequisite defects as a defence. Organisations representing tenants are systematically checking possession notices for prerequisite failures and raising these as defences. Landlords who have not confirmed the prerequisite position before serving notice are finding their claims challenged on technical grounds that could have been avoided.
What Landlords Should Do Now
For landlords who have not yet needed to recover possession post-abolition but will at some point, the most important preparations are proactive rather than reactive:
- Audit the prerequisite position for every tenancy. Confirm deposit protection, prescribed information service, licence status, and EPC for every tenancy in the portfolio. Remedy any failures now — fixing them later, when a possession notice needs to be served, takes time and delays the whole process.
- Keep an arrears log from the first missed payment. Where a tenant falls into arrears, start documenting from day one — the date, the amount due, the amount received, and any communications. The Ground 8 claim needs an accurate arrears schedule and the documentation should be contemporaneous rather than reconstructed later.
- For antisocial behaviour issues, start the evidence log early. Ground 14 claims need evidence. An incident log that begins when the Section 8 notice is being prepared is too late — it needs to have been kept throughout the behaviour period.
- Use the correct post-RRA prescribed notice forms. The Section 8 notice form changed with the RRA's introduction of new grounds. Using a pre-RRA form may not invalidate the notice if the grounds and information are otherwise correctly stated, but using the current prescribed form eliminates any ambiguity.
- Take legal advice before serving for anything other than straightforward rent arrears. Ground 1A, Ground 6A, and discretionary grounds require careful preparation. A legal adviser experienced in post-RRA possession can review the strength of the grounds, confirm the prerequisites, and advise on the evidence needed before the notice is served.
For the deposit protection prerequisites, see Deposit Protection After the Renters' Rights Act. For HMO and selective licensing prerequisites, see HMO Licensing and the Renters' Rights Act. For how periodic tenancies work after the abolition of fixed terms, see Periodic Tenancies After the Renters' Rights Act.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, from 1 May 2026. Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 was repealed. All existing fixed-term tenancies converted to periodic tenancies on that date. No landlord in England can serve a Section 21 notice on any assured tenancy. Section 8 is the only possession route. Any Section 21 notice served on or after 1 May 2026 is void in law regardless of form or content.
Ground 8 (mandatory rent arrears — two months minimum) for non-paying tenants; Ground 1A (mandatory intention to sell — four months' notice, one use per ten years) for landlords who genuinely plan to sell; Ground 1 (mandatory own occupation — four months' notice) where the landlord needs to live in the property; and Ground 14 (discretionary antisocial behaviour — immediate notice). For most landlords, Ground 8 is the primary post-Section 21 possession tool where a legitimate reason to end a tenancy exists.
For an undefended Ground 8 rent arrears claim in London, approximately five to eight months from notice to possession order in current conditions. The accelerated possession procedure does not apply to Section 8 — every claim is listed for hearing. Court capacity affects the timeline significantly. Serve the notice as soon as the arrears threshold is reached to start the clock. Do not delay at the notice stage — delay there adds directly to the total timeline.
No. No fault possession without a statutory ground no longer exists. A landlord who wants vacant possession but has no specific ground must either wait for the tenant to give their own notice (which requires no reason), or rely on Ground 1A (genuine intention to sell, four-month notice) or Ground 1 (own occupation, four-month notice) if those circumstances genuinely apply. Inventing a ground that does not genuinely apply creates serious legal and financial exposure — courts are examining Ground 1A sale intention carefully and the consequences of a false ground claim are significant.
Deposit protected in an authorised scheme and prescribed information correctly served; any required HMO or selective licence current and valid; outstanding civil penalties discharged; EPC in place; correct prescribed notice form used (post-RRA version). Any failure on these prerequisites voids the notice and the process must restart after the deficiency is remedied. Audit the prerequisites for every tenancy before you need to serve notice — discovering the failure after the notice has been sent loses months.
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