The section 21 era ended in two stages. No-fault notices were abolished for private tenancies in England on 1 May 2026, and landlords holding notices served before that date had until the earlier of six months from service or 31 July 2026 to ask the court to issue their claim. That window has closed, so every new possession claim a private landlord in England brings runs on grounds, in front of a judge, with evidence.
Most of the commentary covers what this means for landlords who want tenants out. The more interesting question for our readers is what it does to the buying and selling of tenanted stock, because harder and slower possession lowers the value of the vacant possession option, so the gap between tenanted and vacant pricing has widened.
In short
- No-fault section 21 notices were abolished for private tenancies in England on 1 May 2026, and the deadline to issue claims on older notices has passed.
- Selling now needs Ground 1A: four months’ notice, no proceedings date inside a tenancy’s first 12 months, and a re-letting bar of about 16 months that applies once the ground is used, whether or not the sale completes.
- From a new tenancy, possession through the courts can take well over a year once the notice and the court stage are added together.
- Harder, slower possession has widened the gap between tenanted and vacant pricing, so selling tenanted or vacant is a pricing decision.
The section 21 era is over
Under the old regime, an owner could serve two months’ notice without giving a reason and rely on an accelerated paper process. Under the new one, possession needs a statutory ground. The main ones for ordinary landlords are:
- Selling.
- Moving in yourself or a close family member.
- Serious rent arrears.
- Antisocial behaviour.
Each carries its own notice period and its own evidential burden, and a judge decides whether the ground is made out. The government’s guide to the Renters’ Rights Act lists every ground with its notice period.
The practical consequence is that possession has become a project with legal risk, not a formality with a timetable.
Selling now runs through Ground 1A
The ground most owners will meet is Ground 1A, the selling ground, set out in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 as amended by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. It comes with three constraints worth knowing cold:
- The notice period is four months.
- A Ground 1A notice cannot name a date for proceedings inside the first twelve months of a tenancy, which gives every new tenant a year of security against a sale-driven or move-in-driven eviction specifically. The year runs to the date the notice names, not to the day it is served, so the four-month notice can go out from around month eight. Arrears and conduct grounds carry no such floor.
- Once a landlord has used it, section 16E of the Housing Act 1988 bars re-letting or marketing to let for a restricted period, defined in section 16M, that begins the day the notice is served and ends twelve months after the date the notice names as the earliest for proceedings, which on a four-month notice is about sixteen months in total.
A sale that falls through inside that window can leave the owner with an empty property that cannot lawfully be let, or marketed to let, on a tenancy of 21 years or less until the window ends.
That third constraint is the one the market has not fully priced. Using the selling ground is now a one-way door, and owners who serve notice speculatively, hoping a sale materialises, are accepting about sixteen months of letting risk to do it.
Possession timelines are the real story
Add the pieces together for an owner who wants vacant possession to sell from a young tenancy: a Ground 1A notice cannot expire before the tenancy turns twelve months old, so the four-month minimum notice runs inside that first year rather than stacking on top of it, and then comes a court process that trade reporting describes as backlogged in many areas.
On that arithmetic, an owner starting from a new tenancy whose tenant does not leave is looking at well over a year to vacant possession, while an established tenancy faces the four-month notice and the court stage. The same trade reporting says landlords rushed to issue section 21 claims before the 31 July deadline, which will not shorten the queue.
None of this is a judgement on the policy. It is arithmetic that every valuation of tenanted stock now has to carry.
What harder possession does to tenanted pricing
Sellers who need out on a fixed timetable face a pricing decision: sell tenanted, with a price that reflects the buyer taking on the tenancy, or serve Ground 1A and carry the notice, a possible court stage and the re-letting bar before selling vacant. Buyers who are happy to own the tenancy, because the rent stacks and they never needed vacant possession, are paying for something they do want.
For those buyers the tenancy is part of what they are buying, which is why a tenanted sale can be the right answer for a seller who cannot wait.
The discipline is to underwrite the tenancy you are buying, not the vacant building you imagine. Our tenanted purchase checklist covers the file to demand, and the wider deadline mechanics are in our section 21 deadline guide. Any plan that quietly depends on obtaining possession, for refurbishment, conversion or resale, now needs a named ground, its notice period and a court timeline priced in from day one.
What this means for property investors
Buy tenanted stock because you want the tenancy, and price any vacant possession ambition as an uncertain project measured in months and court lists.
When you sell, decide early whether you are selling tenanted or committing to Ground 1A with its four months of notice and a re-letting bar of roughly sixteen months behind it, because switching lanes midway is now expensive.
And when a vendor prices a tenanted sale below vacant value, weigh that gap against whether you ever needed vacant possession.
If you own a rental and are weighing up selling, get a free desktop valuation: an evidence-backed range within 24 hours, yours whether you sell or not.
This is general information, not advice on your position, so take independent advice before acting. Browse the current stock at our live listings or join the insider list to see tenanted deals before they reach the market.