For decades, Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 gave landlords a straightforward route to end a tenancy without giving a reason. That route has now closed.
On 1 May 2026, the Renters' Rights Act Phase one came into effect and abolished Section 21. Both section 21 notices and assured shorthold tenancies in the private rented sector were abolished from that date. If you let property in Kent, whether a single flat in Maidstone or a portfolio across the county, this changes how you plan, document and act when you need your property back. This guide sets out the practical steps that replace the old system, written to remain accurate regardless of when you read it.
What actually changed on 1 May 2026
Section 21 was a legal notice used by landlords in England to end an assured shorthold tenancy, one of the most common types of tenancy in England, and its terms meant landlords did not have to give a reason for eviction. That mechanism is gone. A landlord of an assured tenant can now only end the tenancy on grounds, and must serve a valid section 8 notice stating the grounds and apply for a possession order and warrant to end the tenancy. Existing assured shorthold tenancies converted automatically into open-ended periodic assured tenancies. Tenants became periodic assured tenants and gained new rights in line with the Renters' Rights Act, such as the right to request a pet. Fixed terms, as a concept for regaining possession, no longer exist for private tenancies.
The transition window, if you still have an old notice
If you served a valid Section 21 notice before the cut-off, you are not automatically out of options. Valid Section 21 notices served before 1 May remain enforceable for a short transition window, and landlords had until 31 July 2026 to apply to the court for an order for possession. That transition deadline has now passed for anyone who did not act, meaning any landlord still holding an unenforced Section 21 notice must now start again using Section 8 grounds. Anyone attempting to serve a fresh Section 21 notice risks serious consequences: if a landlord now tries to serve a Section 21 notice, it is not only invalid, but the local authority can impose a civil penalty on the landlord of up to £7,000 for a single breach.
Section 8 is now the only door
As of 1 May 2026, Section 8 notices are the only legal means for landlords to regain possession of their properties, and they require clearly defined grounds for possession, split into mandatory and discretionary groups. Some grounds are mandatory, meaning the court must grant possession once the ground is established; others are discretionary, meaning the court decides whether possession is reasonable. Picking the correct ground, and proving it with evidence, is now the entire game. The right ground depends on your circumstances and on what you can prove, and picking the wrong ground, or serving a defective notice, will set you back months.
The grounds landlords use most often
Moving in yourself or selling the property. Ground 1 can be used if you or a close family member needs to live there, but not in the first 12 months of the tenancy, with four months' notice required. Ground 1A allows possession where you have a genuine intention to sell the property, again not within the first 12 months of a new tenancy, with four months' notice. These are mandatory grounds once properly established, but the protected period means you cannot use them to force out a tenant early in a new letting.
Rent arrears. This remains the most commonly used ground, but the bar has been raised. Previously landlords could seek possession on a mandatory basis if a tenant was at least two months or eight weeks in arrears, but the threshold has increased to three months for monthly rental payments or 13 weeks for weekly or fortnightly payments. The notice period for both Ground 8 and Ground 10 has also been doubled to four weeks, alongside the increase in the arrears threshold. Crucially, any arrears resulting from delays in Universal Credit payments are excluded from this calculation. Landlords should keep meticulous rent ledgers, because if a tenant owes three months' rent at both the notice date and the hearing date the court must grant possession with no discretion, but if the tenant reduces arrears below three months before the hearing, Ground 8 falls away. For that reason, many landlords plead Grounds 8, 10 and 11 together, since Grounds 10 and 11 are discretionary and cover lesser arrears and persistent late payment respectively.
Antisocial behaviour. Two separate grounds cover this. Ground 7A is the mandatory ground and requires a relevant conviction, a breach of an injunction, or a closure notice on the property, with fourteen days' notice required. By contrast, Ground 14 covers nuisance or antisocial behaviour more broadly and remains unamended, continuing to cover conduct likely to cause a nuisance or annoyance. Ground 14 carries no notice period, so proceedings can begin the day the notice is served, but it stays discretionary, meaning speed of issue buys nothing without evidence that persuades a judge eviction is reasonable. Keep an incident diary, police reference numbers and copies of any warnings given.
Breach of tenancy terms. Ground 12 applies where the breach is of an obligation other than paying rent, such as unauthorised subletting, and for discretionary grounds like this it strengthens your case to serve a written warning and give the tenant a specific period, typically 14 days, to remedy the breach before serving the notice.
Getting the paperwork right
Precision matters more than ever. The notice form requires you to state the ground number and its full statutory wording, so copy the exact statutory wording from Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 as amended, and do not paraphrase. You must also give particulars of the ground, a brief explanation of why it applies in this specific case, since a bare assertion is not sufficient. Get this wrong and the consequences are expensive. Getting the notice period wrong makes the notice voidable on its face, and the court will dismiss the claim, leaving the landlord to pay the wasted court fee plus, often, the tenant's costs.
What happens after the notice expires
If the tenant does not leave once the notice period ends, court action follows. The claim issues on Form N5 with N119 particulars, currently costing £415 on the fee schedule, with a further £152 for the warrant if enforcement is needed. Realistically, the whole process typically takes three to five months from notice to vacant possession, assuming no complications. Landlords pursuing arrears can combine remedies: a money claim for the outstanding rent arrears can be included within the same possession claim.
The registration requirement now sitting behind possession
A further compliance layer is arriving that landlords should not overlook. Landlords are required to sign up to a private rented sector database from December 2026, under the next phase of the Renters' Rights Act, with the database giving councils access to information to help them spot rogue landlords and take quicker action. When an area is called forward to register, landlords with properties in the region get a three-month window to sign up, with all landlords actively letting properties required to register by 14 November 2027. This matters directly for possession claims, since once database registration is mandatory in a region, courts will not make possession orders for unregistered landlords except on the anti-social behaviour grounds. Get ahead of this now by keeping certificates, tenancy documents and compliance records organised, so registration is a formality rather than a scramble.
Practical checklist for landlords
- Stop drafting anything that resembles a Section 21 notice. It has no legal effect and risks a civil penalty.
- Identify the correct ground or combination of grounds before serving any notice, and match the notice period exactly.
- Keep a rent ledger, correspondence log and evidence file for every tenancy from day one, not just when a problem arises.
- Where arrears are the issue, monitor the balance right up to the hearing date, since it must still meet the threshold on that day.
- For behaviour or breach cases, document everything in writing, including any warnings given to the tenant.
- Budget for court fees and factor in a realistic three to five month timeline when planning to recover a property.
- Prepare compliance paperwork now for PRS database registration ahead of your area's rollout window.
What this means for tenants
Tenants gained a significant increase in long-term security. Provided rent is paid and tenancy terms are respected, a landlord cannot end a tenancy simply because a fixed term has passed or without a stated, evidenced reason. A landlord of an assured tenant can only end the tenancy on grounds. Tenants facing a Section 8 notice should check which ground is cited, whether it is mandatory or discretionary, and whether the correct notice period and wording were used, since errors on the landlord's part can be a valid defence. Tenants in arrears should also note that they cannot be evicted under Ground 8 if they pay off the arrears before the case gets to court.
The shift from Section 21 to Section 8 is not simply a change of form. It rewards landlords who run their tenancies properly, document decisions, and act on clear evidence, and it gives tenants a genuine opportunity to understand and, where appropriate, challenge the case against them. Whether you are letting a single Kent property or managing a wider portfolio, the safest strategy now is the same one that was always good practice: keep excellent records, act early on arrears and problems, and never assume possession will be automatic.