What you need to know about a Section 21 Notice

From the 1^st May 2026, a Section 21 Notice for no-fault evictions will no longer be available to gain possession of your property back and you will only be able to gain possession of the property back by issuing a Section 8 Notice using the grounds set by the government. Therefore, if you wish to obtain possession of your property, you need to act quickly.

What is a Section 21 Notice?

A Section 21 Notice (Non-fault eviction) is a notice that is served when there is no reason for you to want possession of your property back.

When can a Section 21 Notice be served?

If you have entered a fixed-term tenancy, e.g. 6 months or 12 months, then you may not be able to serve a Section 21 Notice until the last 2 months of that tenancy.

If an Improvement Notice has been received, then any notice served within 6 months of receiving one would be classed as a retaliatory eviction until the improvements to the property have been made. Therefore, if you have received one, then the improvements do need to be made and signed off by the Council before you consider serving a Section 21 Notice.

Is your Section 21 Notice valid?

Here is what you need to know to ensure that your Section 21 Notice is valid before this date passes: –

• You need to ensure that all the compliance documentation is correct and has been validly served upon the tenant before any Section 21 Notice has been served.
• A Section 21 Notice does need to be served with the Section 21 guidance notes for the tenants.
• You need to ensure that the notice does give the tenant the minimum requirement of 2 months to vacate the property, keeping in mind the 2 days that it takes for the notice to be served, if it is sent by first-class post or any other date stated in the tenancy as the deemed date of service.

Without these steps, your Section 21 Notice may not be valid and you would need to start the process again.

What happens when the notice period ends?

Once your notice period ends, if the tenant has not vacated, then you would need to issue the matter at court to gain possession.

This is applied through either the accelerated procedure (only available to Assured Shorthold Tenancies) or the standard procedure.

If an Order for possession is granted by the court and the tenant still does not vacate by the date set within the Order, then it may be that you would need to instruct a Bailiff.

Please note that any court proceedings under a Section 21 Notice do need to be issued by the 31^st July 2026, after this date, you will not be able to continue with that notice.

How can our Dispute Resolution team help?

If you wish to discuss your options concerning a Section 21 Notice, please contact our Dispute Resolution team on 01302 341414 or 0114 272 1884. Alternatively, you can fill out our online enquiry form.