Section 21 Has Gone: What the Renters’ Rights Act Means for Your Tenancy Agreement

The biggest change to private renting in England for a generation took effect on 1 May 2026. Section 21 “no-fault” evictions are gone, the assured shorthold tenancy has been replaced by a single periodic tenancy, and the rules on rent increases have been rewritten. If you are a landlord still working from a pre-2026 tenancy agreement, some of its clauses no longer do what they say. This article explains what has changed and what to check. It is general information, not legal advice.

What actually happened on 1 May 2026

The Renters’ Rights Act received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025 and its main provisions commenced on 1 May 2026. On that date three things happened at once:

• Section 21 was abolished. A landlord can no longer end a tenancy without giving a reason.
• Existing tenancies converted automatically. Assured and assured shorthold tenancies entered into before 1 May 2026 became assured periodic tenancies on that date — including tenancies signed earlier where the tenant had not yet moved in.
• Fixed terms ended. Any fixed term in a converted tenancy fell away and the tenancy now rolls from one rent period to the next until the tenant or the landlord brings it to an end.

There is no application to make and no form to file. The conversion happened by operation of law. A twelve-month fixed term signed in, say, February 2026 did not run its course — it became periodic on 1 May.

The deadline that has just passed

The Act allowed a short run-off for notices already in the system. A Section 21 notice validly served before 1 May 2026 could still be relied on, but 31 July 2026 was the last date to issue a Section 21 possession claim at court. That window has now closed. If you are holding an unissued Section 21 notice, it no longer leads anywhere — possession must be sought under Section 8 instead.

Where a valid Section 21 or Section 8 notice was served before 1 May and proceedings were already under way, the tenancy could remain a shorthold tenancy for the duration of those proceedings.

Possession now runs through Section 8

Every possession claim now needs a ground. Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 sets out the grounds — serious rent arrears, breach of the tenancy, anti-social behaviour, and grounds covering a landlord who genuinely needs to sell or move into the property. Each ground carries its own notice period and its own evidential burden, and some are discretionary, meaning the court decides whether it is reasonable to make an order.

The practical consequence is that record-keeping matters far more than it used to. A tidy paper trail — a signed agreement, a completed property inventory, dated correspondence, an accurate rent account — is now the difference between a straightforward claim and a failed one.

The written statement of terms — and a £7,000 penalty

Landlords with converted tenancies had to give each tenant either the Government’s official Information Sheet or, for a purely verbal tenancy, a written statement of the tenancy terms. For most existing tenancies the deadline was 31 May 2026. Missing it is not a technicality: a first offence can attract a civil penalty of up to £7,000, rising to up to £40,000 for a repeat offence.

If you took on a tenancy in the changeover period and are not certain the paperwork went out, this is the first thing to check.

Rent increases: Section 13 or nothing

This is the change most likely to catch out an older agreement. Rent on an assured periodic tenancy can now only be increased by serving a valid Section 13 notice. In outline:

• At least two months’ notice of the increase must be given
• Rent can generally be increased no more than once a year
• The new rent must be no higher than the open market rent for the property
• A tenant who considers the proposed rent above market rate can challenge it at the First-tier Tribunal

Critically, a rent review clause that raises the rent automatically, or that lets the landlord review the rent without a Section 13 notice, has no effect. Plenty of pre-2026 tenancy agreements contain exactly that kind of clause. It is still printed in the document; it simply does not work any more.

What to do with your tenancy paperwork

1. Stop issuing fixed-term ASTs. New lettings are periodic assured tenancies from the outset. A document headed “assured shorthold tenancy” with a twelve-month term is describing a tenancy type that no longer exists for new lets.
2. Delete automatic rent review clauses. Replace them with a plain statement that rent will be reviewed by Section 13 notice.
3. Remove references to Section 21. Any clause explaining how the landlord will end the tenancy on two months’ notice without reason is now misleading to tenants.
4. Check the deposit position. Deposit protection within 30 days and the prescribed information are unchanged, and the five weeks’ rent cap still applies where annual rent is under £50,000. Where a larger sum or a guarantor is involved, use a rent deposit deed or a tenancy guarantor agreement.
5. Keep the inventory discipline. With possession now ground-based, contemporaneous evidence of condition matters more than ever.

What has not changed

The reforms target assured tenancies of self-contained homes. Several arrangements sit outside the regime and are unaffected in their essentials:

• Lodgers who share facilities with a resident landlord remain excluded occupiers — a lodger agreement is still the right document
• Company lets fall outside the assured regime — see the company let agreement
• Holiday lets continue under a holiday let agreement
• Commercial premises are governed by their own leases, such as the office lease or a full FRI commercial lease

Summary

Section 21 ended on 1 May 2026, existing tenancies became periodic on the same day, and the last Section 21 court claims had to be issued by 31 July 2026. Possession now requires a ground under Section 8, rent rises require a Section 13 notice, and automatic rent review clauses are of no effect. If your tenancy documents pre-date the reforms, they are not just out of date — parts of them are unenforceable. Start from a current template.