Now that the Renters’ Rights Act is in force, landlords are having to adjust accordingly, and one thing that may easily be overlooked is the deadline for possession proceedings on Section 21 notices issued before 1st May.
31st July is the final date landlords can submit a possession claim to the court using a Section 21 notice served before 1st May. If the claim has not been issued by this deadline, the Section 21 notice can no longer be relied upon, and landlords will need to start again using the Section 8 process.
If this deadline is missed, landlords will also need to ensure they serve the tenant information sheet, as this did not need to be issued where there was a live Section 21 notice.
Here’s what “starting possession proceedings” involves:
- A valid Section 21 notice must have been served on the tenant
- The notice period – two months – must expire
- If the tenant doesn’t leave, a possession claim is issued in the county court. This is what “starting possession proceedings” means
- The court considers the claim, and if everything is valid, it usually grants a possession order
- The tenant is given a date to vacate. If they still don’t leave, a Warrant of Possession must be applied for
- County Court bailiffs or High Court Enforcement Officers attend the property to carry out the eviction
It’s worth noting that the 31st July 2026 deadline applies only to submitting the claim for possession — not to completing the full possession process, which will continue beyond that date. The time taken from claim to successful repossession will not prevent a landlord from completing repossession.
If you have a Section 21 notice that hasn’t yet progressed to court, don’t assume there’s still plenty of time. Our advice is that anyone in this position should seek specialist legal advice promptly, to ensure proceedings are handled correctly.
We’d like to extend our thanks to Laurence Deacon at Ali Legal Ltd for assisting with the information in this article. We’d wholeheartedly recommend getting in touch with Laurence for any urgent questions on this topic – reach out directly by email at laurence@alilegal.co.uk.
If you need any other advice or support on this issue, or any other tenancy or property management query, feel free to contact our team at hasan@home-share.co.uk.
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