Section 21 — the "no-fault" eviction notice that's been part of English lettings for over three decades — was abolished on 1 May 2026. If you're still thinking of your tenancies as ASTs with a fixed end date, here's what's actually changed and what you need to do about it.
The headline change
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent in October 2025, and its central provision — abolishing assured shorthold tenancies in the private rented sector — came into force on 1 May 2026. Every AST that existed on that date automatically converted into a periodic assured tenancy with no fixed end date. Any new tenancy signed from that date is an assured tenancy from the outset.
In practical terms: there is no longer a tenancy "expiry" to manage, and Section 21 no longer exists as a route to possession. If you want a tenant to leave and they don't want to, Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 — with a valid, provable ground — is now the only mechanism.
What's different about Section 8 now
The Act didn't just remove Section 21 and leave Section 8 untouched. Several of the grounds for possession were reformed at the same time, and two changes are worth knowing about specifically:
Rent arrears threshold raised. The mandatory arrears ground (Ground 8) now requires three months' unpaid rent for a monthly tenancy, up from two months previously — or thirteen weeks for weekly or fortnightly tenancies. This is a meaningfully higher bar than before.
Some grounds remain discretionary — meaning a court decides whether it's reasonable to grant possession even if the ground is technically proved — while others, like the arrears ground above, are mandatory, where the court must grant possession if the ground is proved. Getting this distinction right matters when you're deciding how to proceed with a problem tenancy.
A new registration requirement is coming
The Act also creates a new Private Rented Sector Database — a mandatory national register of every private landlord and every let property in England. Once it's live for your area, you'll need to be registered before you can serve a Section 8 notice, and an unregistered landlord won't be able to get a possession order except on the anti-social behaviour ground. Penalties for not registering start at up to £7,000 and rise to £40,000 for serious or repeated breaches.
There's no single fixed deadline for every landlord. The database is rolling out regionally from late 2026, with full national registration expected to be mandatory during 2027, and exact dates confirmed through secondary legislation as each stage goes live. The government ran a beta of the registration service over summer 2026. The practical takeaway: don't wait for a specific date to appear in the news — watch for when registration opens for your area and register as soon as you can, since you can't predict exactly when you might need to serve a notice.
What this means day to day
For most landlords with straightforward, well-run tenancies, the practical impact is smaller than the headlines suggest — you were probably not planning to use Section 21 speculatively anyway. But a few things are worth doing differently:
- Reference new tenants properly. With no-fault eviction gone, getting the tenant selection right at the start matters more than ever, since ending a tenancy that isn't working out is now slower and requires proving a ground.
- Keep clean records from day one. If you ever do need to rely on a ground like rent arrears or breach of tenancy, you'll need to evidence it — payment records, correspondence, and inspection notes all matter more under a grounds-based system.
- Check your Section 8 notices are current. Any template or notice you generated before 1 May 2026 is very likely out of date. Notices need to reflect the reformed grounds and current notice periods.
- Watch for the Private Rented Sector Database opening in your area and register as soon as you can — you won't be able to serve a Section 8 notice, or get a possession order on most grounds, without being registered.
How Slatebase helps
Slatebase's legal document generator was built after the Act came into force, so Section 8 notices generated through the platform reflect the current grounds and notice periods rather than a template that's quietly gone stale. Tenant reference letters and reference checks are also built in, so you can properly assess a prospective tenant's history before they move in — which matters more now that ending a tenancy that isn't working is a longer process.
This article is for general information and does not constitute legal advice. Housing law changes, and you should verify current requirements — particularly notice periods and grounds for possession — before relying on any document for a real tenancy. Consider seeking independent legal advice for possession proceedings.