Transitional Provisions Under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025
Posted on in Dispute Resolution
The Fate of Current Section 21 Claims
As most landlords will now be aware, from 1 May 2026, the Renters’ Rights Act will make one of the biggest changes to the private rented sector in decades by abolishing section 21, known colloquially as “no-fault” eviction notices. Any new notice served from 1 May will need to be a grounds-based notice, which will then need to be proven before the court.
But what happens to any section 21 notices that have been served in recent weeks? Or court proceedings that are currently before the court? It is a question we are being asked a lot at present, so this is where things stand.
Can I still serve a section 21 notice?
At the time of writing this article, as of the end of March 2026, the simple answer is yes, you can. In theory, notices can be served up to 30 April 2026.
However, it would be most unwise for any landlord to wait until the last week of April to serve notice. It can often be the case that certain steps need to be taken before a valid section 21 notice can be served, such as returning a deposit, and that can take time. You also need to account for the time it takes to serve the notice.
Many tenancy agreements will contain provisions relating to how service should take place and when service is deemed to have occurred. The reliability of the post is not what it once was, and process servers may not have immediate availability to assist.
The best advice is that if you are contemplating trying to serve a section 21 notice before the rules change, commence that process now.
What if a Section 21 Notice has already been served – can I issue a possession claim?
If a valid Section 21 Notice has been served at any point between 1 February and 30 April 2026, that notice can still be relied upon, and proceedings can be issued. However, the key date to have in mind is 31 July 2026 – after that date, proceedings cannot be issued, and the section 21 notice falls away.
Landlords who are looking to serve a section 21 notice in the coming weeks should take particular note of that deadline – you will only have a few weeks after the two-month notice period expires to issue proceedings.
Current court proceedings - what happens going forward?
For landlords with current possession claims before the court, it is business as usual. Those claims will continue up to conclusion under the current rules; the section 21 notices those proceedings are based on will remain valid, and the tenancy will remain an assured shorthold tenancy for the purpose of those proceedings.
However, if the section 21 notice is found to be invalid in any current court proceedings, and if that invalidity surfaces after 1 May, then landlords will not have the opportunity to re-serve a section 21 notice. A new possession claim, based on a new section 8, grounds-based notice, will need to be served.
What does this mean in practical terms for landlords now?
The looming date of 1 May 2026 is not to be overlooked by landlords. For months, our message to landlords has been to think carefully about whether they want to serve a section 21 notice. We are now very much at the business end of the timetable, and the timeframe to serve a new section 21 notice and then commence proceedings is now being counted in days and weeks, rather than months.
Missing the transitional window may result in a landlord losing the ability to recover possession under section 21 altogether and will be required to rely on section 8 grounds instead, and the time, cost and uncertainty of the section 8 possession process is something that a landlord may want to avoid.
How Tozers can help
Our team can advise you on whether serving a section 21 notice is still possible in your circumstances and, if so, ensure it is served correctly and within the remaining transitional period. We can also review your tenancy paperwork to identify any issues that could invalidate a notice, such as deposit protection, prescribed information, licensing, gas safety, EPC and “How to Rent” compliance.