Evictions & Possession
Eviction notices: a landlord's guide for 2026
An eviction notice in England is now a Section 8 notice. Section 21 no-fault evictions were abolished on 1 May 2026 under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, so a landlord can no longer end an assured tenancy without a reason. To seek possession, you must serve a Section 8 notice on the prescribed Form 3A, cite one or more statutory grounds for possession, and give the notice period that attaches to the ground you use. If the tenant does not leave by the end of that period, you apply to the county court for a possession order. There is no longer any route to evict a tenant without a stated legal ground.
What counts as an eviction notice now?
Since 1 May 2026, the only eviction notice a private landlord can serve is a Section 8 notice under the Housing Act 1988. The Section 21 process, which let a landlord end an assured shorthold tenancy without giving a reason, no longer exists for assured tenancies, and all former assured shorthold tenancies are now assured periodic tenancies. Because there is no fixed term to wait out, you can serve a Section 8 notice at any point in the tenancy once you have a valid ground, subject to the protected period explained below. Section 21 no-fault evictions ended on 1 May 2026, a change we cover in full in our guide to Section 21 abolition.
Which form: Form 3A
A valid eviction notice must be served on Form 3A, the prescribed notice seeking possession for private landlords, which replaced the old Form 3 on 1 May 2026. The form requires the full statutory wording of every ground you rely on, the details of the tenancy, and the correct notice period, and a notice on the wrong form or with the wrong wording can be rejected by the court. You do not need to buy an eviction notice template. Form 3A is published free on the GOV.UK assured tenancy forms page, alongside the government's guidance on completing it. From working with self-managing landlords through the first weeks of the new regime, the most common avoidable error we see is a landlord paying for a template that reproduces the pre-May form, then having the notice fail because the grounds wording is out of date. Our full guide to completing a Section 8 notice walks through each ground and the wording the form requires.
Notice periods by ground
Each ground for possession carries its own notice period, and they range from four months down to no notice at all. The table below summarises the main tiers. It is a summary for orientation, not the full list of 37 grounds, which the Section 8 guide covers in detail.
Notice period | Common grounds (examples) | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
Four months | 1, 1A, 1B (landlord or family moving in, or selling), 2 (mortgage lender repossession), 4A (student HMO), 6 (redevelopment) | Landlord-circumstance grounds |
Two months | 5 series (various), 7 (death of the tenant), 9 (suitable alternative accommodation) | Structural and circumstantial grounds |
Four weeks | 8 (serious rent arrears), 10 and 11 (other arrears and persistent late payment) | Rent-related grounds |
Two weeks | 12 and 13 (breach of tenancy, deterioration of the property), 15, 17 | Breach and conduct grounds |
No notice | 7A and 14 (serious anti-social behaviour and certain convictions) | Serious anti-social behaviour |
For anti-social behaviour under Ground 14, you can apply to the court as soon as you serve the notice. For every other ground, you must wait for the stated period to expire before you can apply.
The grounds landlords use most
Three grounds account for most private possession claims, and each changed under the new rules. For serious rent arrears, Ground 8 is a mandatory ground, but the threshold rose to three months' unpaid rent, both when you serve the notice and at the hearing, and the notice period is now four weeks. If the tenant clears the arrears below three months before the hearing, the court can refuse possession, so accurate rent records matter more than ever. For serious rent arrears specifically, the arrears eviction route has its own timeline.
Where you want to move in, sell, or house a close family member, Grounds 1, 1A and 1B are mandatory but require four months' notice and cannot be used in the first twelve months of a tenancy. To rely on most grounds at all, you must also show that the tenant's deposit was protected in an approved scheme and that you gave the prescribed information, a precondition the court now checks. August keeps your rent records and compliance documents in one place, including the deposit-protection and prescribed-information records that a possession claim now turns on.
The twelve-month protected period
You cannot serve a Section 8 notice under Grounds 1, 1A, 1B or 6 in the first twelve months of a tenancy. This protected period means the landlord-circumstance grounds, moving in, selling, family moving in, and redevelopment, are simply unavailable for the first year, however genuine the reason. Rent arrears and anti-social behaviour grounds are not subject to the protected period, so you can act on those immediately where the facts justify it. For an existing tenancy that was already running on 1 May 2026, the twelve months run from the original start date, not from the date the law changed.
What happens after you serve the notice
Serving the notice does not end the tenancy. If the tenant does not leave by the end of the notice period, you must apply to the county court for a possession order. The accelerated, paper-only route that once allowed possession without a hearing has been abolished, so every contested claim now goes before a judge who must be satisfied that the ground is made out. For rent-arrears-only claims you can use the Possession Claim Online service; other grounds use the paper-based process. Realistically, expect the process to take several months, as our guide to how long an eviction takes explains. The wider tenancy changes are set out in the Renters' Rights Act changes for landlords.
If you served a Section 21 notice before 1 May 2026
A Section 21 notice served before 1 May 2026 does not automatically fall away, but its window is closing. If you served a valid Section 21 notice before that date, you can still use it to start court proceedings only up to a deadline, and after 31 July 2026 you generally cannot use Section 21 to begin a claim at all. If that window passes, the notice lapses, the tenancy continues as an assured periodic tenancy, and you must start again with a Section 8 notice. Landlords who served notices in the spring should check the dates carefully rather than assume the old twelve-month validity still applies.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still serve a Section 21 eviction notice?
No. Section 21 no-fault evictions were abolished on 1 May 2026. You cannot serve a new Section 21 notice on an assured tenancy. Every eviction now requires a Section 8 notice citing a valid ground for possession. A Section 21 notice served before 1 May 2026 can be used to start proceedings only within a limited window.
What form do I use for an eviction notice?
Form 3A, the prescribed notice seeking possession for private landlords, which replaced Form 3 on 1 May 2026. It is free on the GOV.UK assured tenancy forms page. You do not need to pay for a template, and an out-of-date template can invalidate the notice.
How much notice do I have to give?
It depends on the ground. Landlord-circumstance grounds such as moving in or selling need four months. Serious rent arrears under Ground 8 needs four weeks. Serious anti-social behaviour under Ground 14 needs no notice before you apply to court. The notice period must be stated correctly on Form 3A.
Do I have to go to court to evict a tenant?
If the tenant does not leave by the end of the notice period, yes. You must apply to the county court for a possession order, and since the accelerated route was abolished, a judge must hear the claim. A valid claim rests on clean, evidenced records, which is why it helps to start with August for free and keep your rent and compliance records in order from the outset.
Author
August Team
The August editorial team lives and breathes rental property. They work closely with a panel of experienced landlords and industry partners across the UK, turning real-world portfolio and tenancy experience into clear, practical guidance for small landlords.
