The deadline that already passed
If a landlord handed you a Section 21 notice last spring and then went quiet, that piece of paper is now worthless. Under the transitional rules in the Renters' Rights Act 2025, the last date a landlord could issue court proceedings on a Section 21 notice served before commencement was 31 July 2026. Osbornes Law's guide to the abolition timeline is blunt about it: after that date the notice is unenforceable and the landlord has to start again under Section 8. That means fresh grounds, fresh paperwork and, on the two grounds most London landlords reach for, four months of notice instead of two.
So if you are sitting at home in a Zone 2 flat wondering whether the notice on your fridge still bites: it does not, unless a claim was already issued at the county court.
What actually changed on 1 May
The Act received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025 and the main provisions came into force on 1 May 2026. Section 21 no-fault eviction went with it. Talbots Law noted that landlords had until 28 April 2026 to get a Section 21 in the post by first class if they wanted to use the old regime at all.
Three practical consequences for renters in London:
Your tenancy is now periodic. Alan Boswell Group's guide records that on 1 May all existing and new tenancies converted automatically to assured periodic tenancies. There is no fixed term to run down and no "end of contract" for a landlord to point at. The NRLA's guidance for pre-May tenancies confirms the conversion happened without anyone needing to sign anything, with one exception: tenancies where a valid Section 21 or Section 8 notice had already been served and proceedings had not concluded stayed as ASTs until those proceedings finished.
Your landlord owed you a document. Every landlord had to give tenants a copy of the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet 2026, on or before 31 May 2026. Osbornes puts the penalty for missing it at up to £7,000 per tenancy. If you never received one, that is a live enforcement matter for your borough's private rented sector team, and it tells you something useful about how carefully your landlord is following the rest of the Act.
Every eviction now needs a ground and, in almost every case, a hearing. The accelerated paper-only possession route belonged to Section 21. Section 8 claims go before a judge. And it remains a criminal offence to evict without a court order: no lock changes, no "you have to be out by Friday".
The grounds being used in practice
| Ground | What it is for | Notice | Blocked in first 12 months? | Re-letting ban after? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ground 1 | Landlord or close family member moving in as their only or principal home | Four months | Yes | Yes, 12 months |
| Ground 1A | Landlord genuinely intends to sell | Four months | Yes | Yes, 12 months |
| Grounds 2ZA to 2ZD | Superior lease has ended and the landlord does not own the freehold | Varies | No | No |
| Ground 4A | Student HMOs, possession before the academic year | Varies | n/a | No |
| Ground 6 / 6A | Redevelopment, or compliance with enforcement action | Long notice | No | No |
| Ground 8 | Serious rent arrears | Short | No | No |
Ground and threshold details above follow the government's grounds framework as summarised by Goodlord's letting agent guide and by Tanfield Chambers' analysis of Ground 1A.
Ground 1 and Ground 1A
These are the two you are most likely to meet, and they are mandatory: if the landlord proves the ground, the judge must order possession. Ground 1 covers the landlord or a close family member moving in. The definition is wide, taking in spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner, parent, grandparent, sibling, child or grandchild, with half-blood relatives treated the same as whole-blood. Ground 1A is the sale ground, and it is the closest thing left to the old no-fault route.
Both require four months' notice, set by the new section 8(4AA) of the Housing Act 1988. That is double the old Section 21 minimum.
Redevelopment, leasehold and arrears
Ground 6 redevelopment is the one to watch in the outer-London conversion belt, where a freeholder wants the whole building empty for substantial works. It is not a licence to refurbish a kitchen. The landlord has to show works that genuinely cannot be done with you living there.
On arrears, the mandatory ground now bites at a higher level than before: Goodlord's summary of the new framework has Ground 8 at three months of arrears, or 13 weeks where rent is paid weekly or fortnightly. The notice period on arrears is far shorter than the four months on Grounds 1 and 1A, which is precisely why the arrears figure on the notice needs checking to the penny before you do anything else.
The twelve-month protected period
Neither Ground 1 nor Ground 1A can be used to make you leave in the first twelve months of a tenancy. The Guild of Letting & Management sets out the mechanics clearly: a landlord can serve the notice once eight months have passed, but the notice must not expire inside the first twelve months. So the earliest possession date on a valid Ground 1A notice is a year and a day after the tenancy began.
Count the months yourself. A notice served in month five, expiring in month nine, is not a difficult legal argument. It is arithmetic, and it fails.
The re-letting ban, and why it is your best evidence
This is the part landlords underestimate. Tanfield Chambers explains that under the new sections 16E and 16M, once a Ground 1A notice is served the landlord must not let the property on a tenancy of 21 years or less, must not grant a licence for money, and must not market it for letting. The restricted period starts on the day the notice is served and runs until twelve months after the earliest possession date named in that notice. Warners Solicitors makes the same point about holiday lets: they are caught too.
The NRLA has been telling its own members that serving Ground 1A should be treated as irreversible, because if the sale stalls the landlord is left with an empty flat they cannot legally re-let.
For you, that creates a simple test. If your former flat reappears on Rightmove three months after you moved out for a "sale", screenshot the listing with the date visible, note the agent and the asking rent, and send it to the private rented sector enforcement team at the council. Government guidance on the re-letting rules refers to a civil penalty of up to £7,000 for breaching the restriction after serving a Ground 1A notice, rising as high as £40,000 where a court granted possession on Ground 1 or 1A. Boroughs vary enormously in how quickly they act, so put it in writing and keep the reference number.
How to spot a notice that will not survive court
Work down this list with the notice in front of you.
- Is a ground actually stated, by number? "We need the property back" is not a ground.
- Does the expiry date give the full period? Four clear months for Grounds 1 and 1A, counted from service, not from the date typed at the top.
- Does the expiry date fall inside your first twelve months? If so, Grounds 1 and 1A are unavailable.
- Is it a recycled Section 21? Anything on the old Form 6A is dead paper now.
- Was it served properly, on all named tenants? A joint tenancy needs all of you served.
- Does the arrears figure match your bank statements? Unprotected deposits, disputed rent increases and unrefunded holding deposits under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 all muddy an arrears claim.
- Is the stated intention plausible? Under Ground 1A the court has to be satisfied by evidence of a genuine intention to sell. An agent who lists your flat to rent at a higher price the week after you leave has not sold anything.
If a landlord is using a rent increase to push you out instead, that is a separate fight with its own route: see How to Challenge a London Rent Increase at the Tribunal. Under the new regime the Section 13 notice is the only lawful way to raise rent, and the tribunal can no longer set a rent above what the landlord asked for.
Your first week after a notice lands
Day one. Do not reply agreeing to anything, and do not hand in your own notice. If you serve notice to quit yourself, you give up the four months and, potentially, any homelessness duty from the council later.
Day two. Photograph the notice, the envelope and the postmark. Save the email with headers if it came electronically. Check your tenancy agreement for a clause permitting service by email, because plenty do not. Our guide to understanding tenancy agreements covers where service clauses usually sit.
Day three. Email the letting agent one short message: "Please confirm the ground number relied on, the date and method of service, and the date my tenancy commenced." Ask nothing else. Agents answer factual questions and their answer becomes evidence.
Day four. Free advice, in this order: Shelter's helpline, your council's housing options team, and Citizens Advice. If you have children or a health condition, register with housing options now rather than in month four.
Day five. Start looking, but calmly. You have four months on the common grounds, which is a genuinely different search from the old two-month scramble. Rightmove's rental tracker has average advertised rents in London at a record £2,791 a month, and late summer is when competition peaks, so a February or March move usually costs less than an August one. If your four months land you in autumn, that is the better half of the bargain. Landlords who are on the market with a stale flat will negotiate, and it is worth checking newly subsidised listings before you accept a headline price.
Day six. Get your deposit back on the record. Check the scheme, check the prescribed information was served, and start collecting condition photographs now rather than the night before you leave.
One last thing worth holding onto: the notice is a request until a judge says otherwise. You do not have to leave on the expiry date, and staying past it is not unlawful. It may affect costs if the case reaches court, so take advice before deciding. But nobody can lawfully move you out of a flat in Hackney or Hounslow without a possession order and, after that, county court bailiffs.