Wow, what a month that was.

I’m only just coming up for air after what was one of the busiest and most intense periods we have experienced at Landlord Action. To be honest, I’m not sure my team will want to see me again until September!

The hours they put in throughout July were phenomenal. People worked late, dealt with an extraordinary volume of calls and did everything they could to help as many landlords as possible before the 31 July deadline. It was not easy, and, on a personal note, I want to thank every one of them for the commitment they showed.

We knew the deadline was coming. I had been talking about it for months and warning landlords not to leave matters until the last minute. But, as is so often the case with a hard deadline, the reality did not properly hit some people until the final days.

Our phones were relentless. July was our busiest month for enquiries in almost a year, outside the exceptional spikes immediately before the Renters’ Rights Act came into force. More than 35% of those enquiries became instructions, with instructions up 28% compared with July last year.

Almost one third related to landlords trying to progress Section 21 cases before the final court deadline.

Some came to us in good time, with their paperwork organised and a clear understanding of what needed to happen. Others contacted us with only days, or sometimes hours, to spare, believing that instructing a solicitor meant their claim could be issued immediately. Unfortunately, it does not work like that.

We still had to examine the notice, the tenancy agreement, deposit protection, prescribed information, gas safety records and all the other compliance documents that can determine whether a Section 21 claim succeeds or fails. If something was missing or had been served incorrectly, we could not simply ignore it because the clock was running down.

The deadline has now passed, and I think everyone involved is entitled to take a breath…but meeting the deadline was only half the battle.

Landlords who managed to get their claims issued in time have now entered a court system that, in many parts of the country, is already understaffed, under-resourced and struggling with existing caseloads. They may have beaten the deadline, but that does not mean they will regain possession of their properties quickly.

They must now wait for claims to be processed, defences to be considered and hearings to be listed. Even once a possession order has been granted, some will still need to wait for enforcement if the tenant does not leave.

For landlords who missed the deadline, the position is very different. A Section 21 notice served before 1 May cannot now be used to begin possession proceedings. You cannot revive it, extend it or ask the court to overlook the fact that possession proceedings were not started in time.

Instead, you will need to look at your circumstances and establish whether one of the revised Section 8 grounds applies. That may mean starting the possession process again, serving a new notice and providing evidence to support the ground being used.

July was exhausting, and I am enormously proud of how the Landlord Action team responded. However, now that the deadline has passed, the real work begins.

The coming months will show whether the revised possession grounds work as intended, whether landlords have confidence in the new framework and, crucially, whether the courts can cope with the demands being placed upon them.

Section 21 may have gone, but the need for landlords to recover their properties fairly, lawfully and within a reasonable timeframe has not. The success or failure of the new system will ultimately depend on whether it can deliver that.

Next week, I’ll look at what we are already learning about how the new possession grounds are being used, the mistakes landlords must avoid in this new era of possession, and the practical steps you should take if you need to regain possession of your property.

Part 2 will be published on 12 August at 10:00 am.