Form N5B: Accelerated Possession Claim (Section 21)

The closing window: read this first

If you hold a section 21 notice served before 1 May 2026 and have not yet issued your claim, you are almost out of time. The official Form N5B page on gov.uk confirms the court must be asked to issue the claim by whichever comes first: the expiry date on your own section 21 notice, or 31 July 2026. Today is 17 July 2026 — that leaves roughly two weeks. Miss it and the notice cannot found any possession claim, accelerated or standard; you would have to start again under section 8 grounds. See our Renters' Rights Act 2025 guide for the full picture of what changed.

Form N5B is the accelerated possession claim form for assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs), used for section 21 "no-fault" possession claims. The accelerated procedure typically resolves without a hearing — the court reviews the documents on the papers and grants possession if everything is in order. Following the Renters' Rights Act 2025, Form N5B is now a legacy, transitional form: relevant only to section 21 notices served before 1 May 2026, with the claim itself required to be issued by 31 July 2026. The county court fee is £415, effective from 13 July 2026. This page covers eligibility, section-by-section completion, the pre-tenancy compliance declarations that make or break a claim, the current fee, and exactly how the post-Renters' Rights Act transition affects you.

What Form N5B is and its current status

Form N5B was created to provide a streamlined court procedure for section 21 "no-fault" possession claims, where the landlord seeks possession at the end of an AST without alleging any breach by the tenant. The accelerated procedure typically resolves without a hearing, provided the documentation is in order and the tenant does not raise a substantive defence.

Following the Renters' Rights Act 2025, the status of Form N5B changed fundamentally. From 1 May 2026, section 21 no-fault possession was abolished for private assured tenancies in England — no new section 21 notices can be served, and any purporting to be served on or after that date are invalid. Form N5B now remains usable only for:

• Section 21 notices served before 1 May 2026 that had not yet expired, and remain within their permitted window.
• Possession claims based on those transitional notices, which the court must be asked to issue by whichever comes first: the notice's own expiry date, or 31 July 2026.
• Two narrow carve-outs confirmed on the official form page: private registered providers of social housing claiming possession of an assured tenancy in England may continue to use the pre-1-May-2026 rules (the wider Renters' Rights Act reforms only reach this sector from 2027), and landlords of properties in Wales must use the separate N5B Wales form under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 framework rather than this one.

After 31 July 2026, Form N5B is effectively closed to new private-sector claims in England. All future possession claims must be brought on section 8 grounds using the standard procedure on Form N5.

When the accelerated procedure could (and could not) be used

The accelerated procedure on Form N5B was, and for the closing window still is, available only where:

• The tenancy is (or was) an assured shorthold tenancy (AST).
• A valid section 21 notice was served on the tenant before 1 May 2026, using Form 6A (England) or the Welsh equivalent, with at least 4 months having passed since the tenancy started when it was given.
• The notice has expired, or its expiry date is on or before 31 July 2026, without the tenant vacating.
• All tenancy agreements are in writing, and the landlord retains copies.
• The claim is for possession only. The landlord cannot claim rent arrears or other money within the accelerated procedure itself — a separate money claim is needed for arrears.

The accelerated procedure was never available where the landlord wanted to claim arrears or other money as part of the same application, where the tenancy was not an AST, where written tenancy documentation could not be evidenced, or where the landlord's grounds were section 8 grounds rather than section 21.

Section-by-section completion of Form N5B

Form N5B is more detailed than Form N5 because it carries more of the substantive case within the form itself (accelerated claims do not use the separate N119 particulars of claim form).

Court and parties

Top sections: court details, claimant details, defendant details, property address — the same as for Form N5.

Section 21 notice details

The form requires the landlord to specify the date the section 21 notice was given, how it was given (delivered by hand, posted, etc.), the expiry date, and the date possession is required. Each detail must be accurate and consistent with the underlying notice. Errors here remain the most common reason accelerated claims are adjourned to a hearing or rejected outright — and in the transitional window, an inaccurate expiry date can also obscure whether the 31 July 2026 backstop has already been missed.

Pre-tenancy compliance declarations

Form N5B requires the landlord to declare compliance with pre-tenancy obligations introduced by the Deregulation Act 2015 as preconditions for a valid section 21 notice on tenancies that started on or after 1 October 2015. The relevant declarations:

• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) provided to the tenant before the tenancy started.
• Gas safety certificate (CP12) provided to the tenant before the tenancy started, with updated copies after each annual inspection.
• "How to Rent" booklet provided to the tenant, in the version current at the date the tenancy began or was last renewed.
• Deposit protection, where a deposit was taken: protected in an authorised scheme, with prescribed information given to the tenant, both within 30 days.
• HMO or selective licensing, where the property required a licence — the licence must have been in place, or applied for, when the notice was served.
• No recent improvement notice or emergency remedial action notice from the council in the 6 months before the section 21 notice was given (unless the works were carried out first, or the notice was later quashed).
• No unlawful charges outstanding under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 — any prohibited payments must have been refunded.

The landlord must positively assert each item. Failure of any one invalidates the section 21 notice and, with it, the accelerated claim.

Statement of truth

Same as for Form N5: a signed statement that the facts in the form are true, made under contempt-of-court risk for false statements.

Documents to file with Form N5B

• Form N5B itself (one signed copy plus copies for service on each defendant).
• The tenancy agreement (all agreements, if there has been more than one).
• The section 21 notice (Form 6A in England).
• Proof of service of the section 21 notice — a witness statement or Form N215 certificate of service.
• The EPC and proof it was given to the tenant.
• The gas safety certificate (most recent, plus earlier ones covering the tenancy) and proof of provision.
• The "How to Rent" booklet in the version current when the tenancy began, with proof of provision.
• The deposit protection scheme certificate and prescribed information, with proof both were given within 30 days.
• The HMO or selective licence, if applicable.

Most accelerated claims that fail do so because of missing or defective documentation. The tenant defends, raises a compliance issue, and the court either rejects the claim or directs a hearing.

How to file, and the current court fee

Filing routes mirror Form N5: postal, in-person, or (where the court accepts it) online. Possession Claim Online (PCOL) does not generally support accelerated claims, so most landlords file by post or in person at the county court covering the property.

Court fee: £415, effective from 13 July 2026, per HMCTS's EX50A civil court fees schedule (fee 1.4(b), county court possession claims, fee code FEE0412) and confirmed in the Ministry of Justice's July 2026 fee update. This is a rise from the previous £404 fee that applied from April 2025. It is the same fee as for the standard Form N5 claim. Always check the current figure on gov.uk before paying, since court fees are reviewed periodically.

Where there are joint tenants or multiple defendants, you must provide additional copies of the form and supporting documents for the court to serve on each.

What happens after issue

Service

The court serves the claim on the tenant, who has 14 days from service to respond.

Tenant's defence

The tenant may use Form N11B, the dedicated accelerated-procedure defence form, to raise: procedural defects in the section 21 notice (wrong dates, wrong form, service issues); non-compliance with the pre-tenancy preconditions above; a retaliatory eviction defence under the Deregulation Act 2015; a discrimination defence under the Equality Act 2010; or a request for extra time on grounds of exceptional hardship under section 89 of the Housing Act 1980 (which can extend the move-out period from 14 days up to 6 weeks).

Court decision

Where the tenant files no defence, or the defence raises no substantive issue, the court typically grants possession on the papers without a hearing. Where a substantive defence is raised, the court lists a hearing. A possession order made without dispute usually requires the tenant to leave within 14 days, extendable to up to 6 weeks for exceptional hardship.

If the tenant still does not leave

If the tenant does not vacate by the date in the order, the landlord must apply for a warrant of possession using Form N325. The warrant fee is also £152 from 13 July 2026 (up from £148), per the same EX50A schedule (fee 8.6, county court enforcement).

Common errors and how to avoid them

1. Defective section 21 notice. Wrong dates, wrong form, service defects, or a notice served within 4 months of the tenancy start. The notice is the foundation of the whole claim; defects in it are fatal.

2. Missing pre-tenancy documentation. The most common failure: no proof the EPC was given, no proof of the gas safety record, or the wrong version of the "How to Rent" booklet.

3. Deposit protection failures. Late protection (more than 30 days), failure to give prescribed information within 30 days, or use of an unauthorised scheme.

4. Missing HMO or selective licence. Operating an unlicensed HMO or selectively-licensable property disables section 21 entirely.

5. Missing the 31 July 2026 backstop. Even a technically valid, correctly-served notice cannot found a claim issued on or after 1 August 2026. Check your notice's expiry date against this deadline now, not when the paperwork is otherwise ready.

The post-Renters' Rights Act 2025 transition

Confirmed timeline, from the official gov.uk guidance:

• From 1 May 2026: no new section 21 notices can be served on private assured tenancies in England; any purporting to be are invalid.
• Section 21 notices served before 1 May 2026 remain usable only up to whichever comes first — their own notice-period expiry, or 31 July 2026.
• From 1 August 2026: accelerated (and standard section 21-based) possession claims relying on a transitional notice will usually be dismissed if issued. All new possession claims must rely on section 8 grounds and Form N5.

If you still hold an unused, in-date section 21 notice, get the N5B claim issued now — the window closes in days, not weeks, from the date of publication. If your notice has already lapsed or the window has closed, consider whether a section 8 ground is available (for example, Ground 1 owner-occupier or Ground 1A sale under the amended Housing Act 1988) and use Form N5 with Form N119 instead. See our guide to evicting a tenant for the current, post-1-May-2026 process end to end.

Important note

This page explains the court process and the compliance points the accelerated procedure checks. It is not legal advice, and Form N5B involves detailed, fact-specific compliance history (EPC, gas safety, deposit, licensing, and notice-service dates) where a single missing document can sink a claim. If your case is contested, time-critical, or your paperwork history is incomplete, get advice from a solicitor or a housing adviser before relying on the accelerated procedure.

Authoritative sources

• Form N5B (gov.uk) — accelerated claim for possession of a property in England
• Giving notice of possession to tenants before 1 May 2026 (gov.uk guidance)
• Civil court fees (EX50A) — full fee schedule
• Court and tribunal fees: updates from July 2026 (gov.uk news)
• Form N11B England — defence form for accelerated possession claims
• Civil Procedure Rules Part 55 (justice.gov.uk)
• Our court forms hub
• Our Form N5 guide
• Our Renters' Rights Act 2025 guide