Section 21 Notice Requiring Possession of an Assured Shorthold Tenancy in England

(The Housing Act 1988 as amended)

N.B. This Factsheet only applies to existing assured shorthold tenancies where a section 21 notice was issued before 1^st May 2026 and until possession proceedings relating to that notice are concluded or, where possession proceedings have not yet commenced until six months from the date the notice was given or, until 31^st July 2026 if this date is before the six month period (see Schedule 6 – Renters’ Rights Act 2025). A section 21 notice may not be served on or after 1^st May 2026.  Landlords must use the section 8 possession procedure to obtain possession of their property for assured tenancies from 1^st May 2026.  See Letting Factsheet No.8 for more information.

Background and Scope:

Under the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988), a landlord who has granted an assured shorthold tenancy has a legal right to get their property back at the end of the tenancy. In order to invoke this right, the landlord is required to follow the correct legal procedure which includes service of a notice (under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988) on the tenant. Since the introduction of the HA 1988 section 21 has been amended by the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, the Housing Act 1996, the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008, the Localism Act 2011, the Deregulation Act 2015 and the Tenant Fees Act 2019!! As a result section 21 has become more complex and the Deregulation Act has caused uncertainty as to the requirements in England with regards to serving the prescribed section 21 notice and compliance with the prescribed requirements (e.g. giving the tenant the gas safety certificate, energy performance certificate and How to Rent Guide).

The Government have also in the past made unclear and last-minute changes to the prescribed section 21 notice, often issuing changes on a Friday to come into force on the following Monday! This was a particular problem during Covid-19. Due to the legal uncertainty caused by unclear changes made by the Government, and some legal experts only accepting the Government version as being valid, the Letting Centre takes the view that landlords and agents should download the latest form from the Government website at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/assured-tenancy-forms

N.B. Section 21 will no longer apply from 1^st May 2026 and landlords will need to follow the section 8 possession procedure relying on one of the statutory grounds for possession from this date. See Letting Factsheet No.8 for more information.

Tenancies in England:

Section 21 of the HA 1988 requires landlords to provide tenants of an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) (whether fixed term or periodic) with a minimum of two months’ notice in writing, using the prescribed section 21 notice Form 6A, that the landlord wants possession of the property (there is no longer a requirement for section 21 notices to expire on the last day of a tenancy period (s21(4ZA) HA 1988)). Extra days should be added if the notice is to be sent by post as the two month period starts when the tenant receives the notice.

The notice must be served before a possession action can be started and in the case of joint landlords the notice can be given by any one of them. The notice cannot be given within the first four months of the original tenancy (s21(4B)) and possession under this section cannot take place during the initial six months of the original tenancy (s21(5)). If notice requiring possession is served on the last day of the tenancy agreement, the tenant does not have to give up possession of the dwelling-house until at least two months after the date that the notice was served.