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14/7/25 8:13 pm
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Landlords have been warned that the window to serve a Section 21 notice is closing before the Renters’ Rights Act kicks in.
New government guidance details the complex transitional arrangements which mean after 1st May you can only use a Section 21 to start court proceedings until whichever date comes first: six months after the date you gave the notice or three months beginning on 1st May.
The Section 21 notice will only be valid if a tenant has an assured shorthold tenancy, and on the date you give them notice, at least four months have passed since the tenancy started.
If landlords start an assured shorthold tenancy on or after 1st January, they won’t be able to serve a Section 21 notice to bring it to an end. They will also need to give at least two months’ notice and can’t have received an improvement or notice of emergency remedial action notice in the last six months.
“If you received an improvement notice or notice of emergency remedial action from the council on or after 1st November 2025 you will not usually be able to give your tenants a Section 21 notice,” explains the guidance.
Landlords must also have refunded any unlawful charges, protected the tenant’s deposit in a government-approved scheme, applied for any necessary licence and provided documents such as a valid gas safety certificate and EPC.
Possession proceedings must be started within certain time frames and in most cases, no later than three months after the formal commencement of the Act, says Esther Woolford, partner in Clarke Willmott’s litigation team. “This means that, although there is still time to take steps to utilise the no fault eviction route, prompt action is needed.
“Serving a Section 21 notice now ensures that you can take advantage of the current regime and avoid being caught out by the new restrictions once the Act is fully in force.”
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