It finally happened. With section 21 abolished from 1 May 2026 under the Renters' Rights Act, landlords in England can no longer serve a no-fault eviction notice, and the assured shorthold tenancies on your books have converted to periodic tenancies. If you manage property or run a lettings desk, this is the biggest shift in possession law in a generation - and the practical consequences reach well beyond the eviction paperwork itself, into how you record repairs, respond to complaints and evidence every decision you make about a tenancy.
What section 21 abolished means day to day
The Renters' Rights Act ended the assured shorthold tenancy as a category. From 1 May 2026, almost every existing AST in England converted automatically into an assured periodic tenancy, and new fixed terms can no longer be created. Alongside that conversion, three changes matter most for managers:
- No new section 21 notices. Serving one after abolition is not just invalid - local authorities can impose a significant civil penalty on the landlord. Remove the form from your templates and from your team's muscle memory.
- Possession now runs through Section 8. Every claim needs a ground - rent arrears, antisocial behaviour, the landlord selling or moving in, and so on - and every ground needs evidence that will stand up in front of a judge.
- Tenants can leave more easily too. Under periodic tenancies, tenants give notice rather than sitting out a fixed term, which changes how you forecast voids and plan refurbishment windows.
The shift from "no reason required" to "every reason evidenced" is the heart of it. Under the old regime, a possession file could be thin. Now the file is the case.
The transition window is closing fast
With section 21 abolished, notices validly served before 1 May 2026 did not simply vanish - but they are on a strict clock. Court proceedings must be issued within tight transitional deadlines which, for most notices, expire at the end of July 2026. If you have any outstanding notices sitting in a drawer while you wait and see, audit them today and speak to your solicitor about whether to issue or abandon. A notice that lapses cannot be replaced with another one; the only route after that is Section 8.
This is worth a dedicated file review even if you believe everything has been actioned. Managers with larger portfolios routinely find one or two notices that were served, never followed up, and are now days from expiry.
Why maintenance records now decide possession cases
Here is the consequence of section 21 abolished that too few lettings teams have internalised: your repairs log is now litigation evidence.
Under the old system, a tenant who complained about damp or a broken boiler could, in practice, be served a no-fault notice - which is exactly why retaliatory eviction protections existed. With that route gone, two things follow.
First, complaints must actually be resolved. There is no quiet exit. A disrepair issue left to fester will surface as a defence or counterclaim the moment you seek possession on any ground, and it will colour how a judge reads everything else in your file.
Second, condition standards are tightening around you. The Decent Homes Standard is being extended to the private rented sector, and hazard response requirements in the spirit of Awaab's Law are coming with it. The direction of travel is clear: defined expectations for investigating and fixing serious hazards, with real consequences for missing them.
What a defensible repair record looks like
For every reported issue, you should be able to show:
- the date and channel the tenant reported it, in their own words
- how it was triaged, and by whom
- when a contractor was instructed, and the scope they were given
- the quotes received and why the chosen one was selected
- the completion date, with photos before and after
- tenant confirmation the issue is resolved, or your follow-up attempts if they went quiet
If any link in that chain lives in one person's inbox, it does not really exist. When a possession hearing is eight months away and your property manager has changed jobs twice, only systems survive.
Practical steps for property managers this quarter
With section 21 abolished, the to-do list looks like this:
- Audit every live section 21 notice against the transitional deadlines - this week, with legal advice where the position is unclear.
- Update your document templates. Tenancy agreements, renewal letters and landlord terms of business all need rewriting for periodic tenancies, and any income model built on renewal fees needs rethinking with them.
- Rebuild the possession playbook around Section 8. For each ground you are likely to rely on, define the evidence pack you would need and start collecting it as business as usual, not at crisis point.
- Brief your landlords in writing. Many still believe they can "just serve notice". A clear one-page explainer now prevents a painful conversation later - and protects you if a landlord insists on a step you have advised against.
- Tighten repair response times. A hazard left unaddressed for weeks is no longer just a service failure; it is a gift to the defence. Build a contractor bench that can respond quickly across trades.
- Centralise the paper trail. Move repair reporting, quotes and completion evidence into one system that timestamps everything.
Those last two points are where platforms earn their keep. Marketplaces like Planajob let you raise a job in minutes and compare quotes from vetted contractors, which helps with speed - but the quieter benefit is that every job leaves a record.
Build the audit trail before you need it
Think about what a possession hearing in 2027 will ask of you: proof that you responded to that October damp report promptly, instructed a competent contractor and completed the work. If you run your maintenance through Planajob, that trail builds itself - the date the job was raised, the quotes received, the contractor selected, the completion evidence - all timestamped in one place. For teams managing dozens of properties, that is the difference between assembling a court bundle in an afternoon and losing a weekend to inbox archaeology. You can see how it works for portfolios on our property managers page, or raise your first job free.
If you outsource maintenance wholesale instead, hold your provider to the same standard: established firms such as Simpled Services in London run documented job histories precisely because their property manager clients now need them.
Either way, the principle is the same. With section 21 abolished, good record-keeping is not administration - it is your route to possession when you genuinely need it. We track Renters' Rights Act developments as they land on the Planajob blog.
FAQ
Can I still rely on a section 21 notice served before 1 May 2026?
Possibly, but the window is nearly shut. Valid notices served before abolition remain usable only if court proceedings are issued within the transitional deadlines, which for most notices run out at the end of July 2026. Check every outstanding notice against the dates now and take legal advice - once a notice lapses, Section 8 is your only route.
Do I need to issue new tenancy agreements now tenancies are periodic?
Existing tenancies converted automatically, so compatible terms from the old agreement generally carry over - you do not need every tenant to re-sign overnight. You do need updated templates for new lets, and it is good practice to send existing tenants a clear statement of how their tenancy now works. Take advice before changing any terms unilaterally.
How do I regain possession now that section 21 has gone?
Through the Section 8 grounds - rent arrears, antisocial behaviour, breach of tenancy, the landlord selling or moving in, and others. Each ground has its own notice requirements and evidence threshold, and some are discretionary, meaning the judge weighs the whole picture, including how well the property was managed. Start building the evidence file the day a problem emerges, not the day you decide to serve notice.