A Section 21 notice is a formal legal notice served by a landlord in England under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to recover possession of a property let on an assured shorthold tenancy (AST). It is often referred to as a 'no-fault' eviction notice because the landlord does not need to give any reason for requiring the tenant to leave. The notice simply requires the tenant to vacate the property after a specified date, giving the tenant at least two months' notice.

IMPORTANT: The Renters' Rights Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025, abolishes Section 21 no-fault evictions in England from 1 May 2026. From that date, no new Section 21 notice may be served. This template is provided for transitional use only, for landlords who need to serve a valid notice before the abolition date. If a valid Section 21 notice is served before 1 May 2026, the landlord must apply to court for a possession order by 31 July 2026.

Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 provides two routes for serving notice. Section 21(1) applies where the tenancy is for a fixed term and the notice requires possession after the end of that term. Section 21(4) applies to periodic tenancies (whether contractual or statutory periodic) and requires the notice to expire on the last day of a period of the tenancy. Since the Deregulation Act 2015, all Section 21 notices for tenancies in England (where the tenancy was granted on or after 1 October 2015 or a new periodic tenancy arose after that date) must be served using the prescribed Form 6A.

The legal requirements for a valid Section 21 notice are strict and have been significantly tightened by the Deregulation Act 2015, the Tenant Fees Act 2019, and the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020. A notice will be invalid if the landlord has not complied with all prescribed requirements at the time the notice is served. These requirements include providing the tenant with an Energy Performance Certificate, a Gas Safety Certificate, an Electrical Installation Condition Report, and the government's 'How to Rent' guide. If a deposit was taken, it must be protected in a government-approved tenancy deposit scheme within 30 days of receipt, and the prescribed information must have been served on the tenant under the Housing Act 2004.

A Section 21 notice is used when a landlord in England wishes to recover possession of a residential property let on an assured shorthold tenancy without needing to prove any fault on the part of the tenant. This is the most commonly used route for ending a tenancy in the private rented sector, accounting for the majority of possession claims in England.

Due to the abolition of Section 21 by the Renters' Rights Act 2025 (effective 1 May 2026), this notice may only be used during the transitional period. The final date for serving a Section 21 notice is 30 April 2026. After 1 May 2026, landlords must rely on Section 8 grounds for possession.

Common situations in which a landlord would serve a Section 21 notice include: the landlord wishes to sell the property with vacant possession; the landlord or a family member wishes to move into the property; the landlord wishes to carry out major refurbishment works that require the property to be vacant; the landlord wishes to end the tenancy at the end of the fixed term; the tenancy has become a periodic tenancy and the landlord does not wish it to continue; or the landlord simply wishes to end the tenancy without alleging any breach by the tenant.

Before serving a Section 21 notice, the landlord must ensure that: all prescribed documents (EPC, Gas Safety Certificate, EICR, and How to Rent guide) have been provided to the tenant; any tenancy deposit has been properly protected; the notice is not being served within the first four months of the original tenancy (for tenancies granted on or after 1 October 2015); the property is not subject to an improvement notice or emergency remedial action notice served by the local authority under the Housing Act 2004; and the landlord has not unlawfully discriminated against the tenant. If any of these requirements are not met, the notice will be invalid and the court will not grant a possession order.

A valid Section 21 notice for an assured shorthold tenancy in England must contain the following key elements and comply with all statutory requirements:

The notice must be in the prescribed Form 6A as set out in the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015 (for tenancies granted on or after 1 October 2015 or periodic tenancies that arose after that date). Using a different format may render the notice invalid.

The notice must clearly identify the property to which it relates, using the full address including postcode. It must also identify the tenant or tenants by their full legal names as they appear on the tenancy agreement.

The notice must specify the date after which possession is required. This date must be at least two months after the date the notice is served. For a periodic tenancy, the date must fall on the last day of a period of the tenancy. For a fixed-term tenancy, the date must be after the last day of the fixed term.

Prescribed document compliance is a prerequisite for validity. Before serving the notice, the landlord must have provided the tenant with: a valid Energy Performance Certificate with a minimum E rating under the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) Regulations 2015; a current Gas Safety Certificate (CP12) under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998; an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) under the Electrical Safety Standards Regulations 2020; and the current version of the government's How to Rent guide.

Deposit protection is essential. If the landlord took a tenancy deposit, it must have been protected in one of the three government-approved schemes (Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits, or Tenancy Deposit Scheme) within 30 calendar days of receipt, and the tenant must have been given the prescribed information required by the Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007. If the deposit was not properly protected, the Section 21 notice is invalid and the court may order the landlord to pay the tenant compensation of one to three times the deposit amount under section 214 of the Housing Act 2004.

The notice must not be served within the first four months of the original tenancy (section 36 of the Deregulation Act 2015) and must not be a retaliatory eviction following the tenant's complaint about housing conditions (section 33 of the Deregulation Act 2015). The notice has a validity period of six months — if the landlord does not start court proceedings within that period, the notice expires.