Residential landlord and tenant
Section 21 was abolished on 1 May 2026. If you hold residential property and you have not reviewed your documentation since, the position is not what you think it is.
What has actually changed
The transitional window closed on 31 July 2026, so notices served under the old regime are spent.
Three changes with immediate commercial consequences:
Why your paperwork matters more than it did
Section 21 forgave a great deal. A landlord with imperfect documentation could still recover possession, because the route did not require a ground.
Section 8 is less forgiving. The tenancy agreement, the deposit protection, the prescribed information, the safety certificates and the records all now feed into whether a ground can be established and defended.
What we advise portfolio landlords to do now
The other side of the relationship
We also act for tenants, though not against our own landlord clients and not on the same matter.
What we are not
We are not a volume possession practice. If what you need is the cheapest possible possession order on a single property, there are firms who do that at a price we would not try to match, and you should use one.
What we do is advisory work for people who hold residential property as an investment: getting the documentation right, planning the sequence, and dealing with the matters that are actually contested.
What it costs
£400 per hour plus VAT with an estimate by stage.
A portfolio documentation review — establishing whether your agreements and records support the grounds you are likely to need — is a fixed fee based on the number of units. For anyone holding more than a handful of properties it is the single most useful piece of work available at the moment.
Questions
Questions people ask us
Can I still use section 21?
No. It was abolished on 1 May 2026, the last valid notices had to be served by 30 April, and the transitional window for proceedings closed on 31 July 2026.
I want to sell. What do I do?
Ground 1A is the mandatory ground for sale. Four months’ notice, not usable in the first twelve months of the tenancy, and it prevents you marketing to let — including short-term lets — for twelve months after service. If there is any chance you would re-let instead, decide before the notice goes out.
My tenant is two months in arrears. Can I start?
Not on Ground 8, which now needs three months. Other grounds may be available depending on the circumstances, and there are steps worth taking at two months that are not possession proceedings.
Does my old tenancy agreement still work?
It may, but it was probably drafted for a regime that no longer exists. Documentation that was adequate under section 21 is not necessarily adequate now, and this is worth checking before you need it.
My agent says nothing has changed. Are they right?
No. If an agent is telling you that in September 2026, that is itself a reason to review the arrangements.
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