Section 21 Notice Checklist

What changed under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025

Section 21 abolished. Fixed-term assured tenancies abolished. Ground 8 threshold raised to 3 months. Information Sheet required for every tenancy by 31 May 2026. Read the full guide.

Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026. This checklist remains useful for landlords with Section 21 notices already served and proceedings still to issue within the transitional window. It walks through the procedural requirements that determine whether a Section 21 claim will survive a court hearing — every one of which the tenant’s solicitor will probe.

Before service: the prerequisites

A Section 21 notice can only be relied on if certain things were done at the start of the tenancy — or earlier in its life. Confirm each of the following:

• Tenancy is an AST. Lodger arrangements, company lets, and high-rent tenancies are not ASTs and Section 21 does not apply.

• Deposit was protected within 30 days of receipt in an authorised scheme (DPS, MyDeposits, or TDS).

• Deposit prescribed information was served on the tenant within 30 days of receipt of the deposit. Late service is fatal to Section 21 unless the deposit has been returned in full before the notice is served.

• How to Rent guide was provided to the tenant at the start of the tenancy (or at renewal if the version had changed).

• Energy Performance Certificate was provided to the tenant at the start of the tenancy and was in date at that time.

• Gas Safety Record (CP12) was provided to the tenant at the start of the tenancy and at each annual renewal.

• Property is not in a selective licensing area without a licence. A landlord operating without a required licence cannot serve a valid Section 21 notice.

• No improvement notice or HHSRS Category 1 hazard notice has been served by the local authority in the last six months. Section 33 of the Deregulation Act 2015 invalidates a Section 21 notice in these circumstances.

A failure on any of these points generally defeats the Section 21 notice at hearing.

The notice itself

• Form 6A in the version current at the date of service.

• Correct landlord and tenant names — match the tenancy agreement exactly.

• Correct property address — full postal address with postcode.

• Correct date of service on the notice.

• Notice period of at least two months from the date of service. Where rent is paid quarterly or annually, the period must be one rental period (and not less than two months).

• Date specified in the notice for possession is at least the end of the notice period.

• Notice signed by the landlord or by an agent with authority. The agent’s authority should be evidenced.

Service

• Personal service, recorded delivery, or hand-delivery with proof. Email service is generally not sufficient unless the tenancy expressly permits it and the tenant has confirmed an email address.

• Certificate of service kept on file — date, method, address, signature of the server.

• Service on all named tenants, not just one. Joint tenancies require service on each tenant.

After service: getting to court

• Wait for the notice period to expire before issuing proceedings.

• Issue proceedings within the transitional window — the earlier of six months from notice date or 31 July 2026.

• Use the accelerated possession procedure (Form N5B) where the tenant is not contesting and the case is straightforward. The accelerated procedure remains available for transitional claims.

• Bundle of evidence: tenancy agreement, deposit protection certificate, prescribed information, How to Rent guide receipt, EPC, gas safety record, the Section 21 notice, and proof of service.

• Pay the court fee — currently £355 (check the most current fee on gov.uk).

If the tenant defends

If the tenant files a defence, the case is referred to a hearing. The most common defences a tenant raises against a Section 21 claim are:

• Procedural failures — deposit protection, prescribed information, How to Rent guide, gas safety record service.

• Retaliatory eviction under Section 33 of the Deregulation Act 2015 — alleging the notice was served in response to a complaint about disrepair.

• Defective notice — wrong form, wrong dates, wrong names.

• Selective licensing — alleging the property required a licence and did not have one.

A defended claim almost always benefits from legal representation. The cost of getting it wrong — discontinuance, costs against the landlord, and starting again under Section 8 — is meaningful.

After 31 July 2026

Section 21 is gone. Possession is recovered through Section 8 only. See our Section 8 guide for the new procedural framework, the expanded list of statutory grounds, and the longer notice periods that apply.