Since the introduction of the Renters Rights Act, which came into effect on 1 May 2026, landlords have been faced with a new regime for regaining control and possession of their properties. The status of their tenancies has changed, as has the methodology of recovering possession and the grounds upon which they may rely.
Section 21 or Section 8?
A “no-fault” Section 21 Notice can no longer be served and those served pre-May 2026 can no longer be relied upon if an application to the Court has not already been made, as the deadline for such was 31 July 2026.
A landlord looking to recover possession of their property will now need to utilise a Section 8 Notice and ensure that grounds are sufficiently made out. There have been a number of additions to the grounds that a landlord may rely on for a Section 8 Notice. However, it should be noted that there have also been some material changes to pre-existing grounds. Of note, Ground 8, which permitted landlords to regain possession based on rental arrears and is a very common ground to rely on, has changed as part of the introduction of the Renters Rights Act. Previously, just two months of arrears, or eight weeks, were required. However, now landlords must be owed three months, or 13 weeks, of rent before they are able to rely upon this mandatory ground. Discretionary grounds for any amount of arrears or persistent arrears, Grounds 10 and 11, remain. However, practitioners will be at the hands of the Court if the full mandatory ground cannot be made out.
Term of the tenancy?
All previous assured shorthold tenancies have now become assured periodic tenancies. Any end date that was in the previous AST no longer applies and the tenant may stay at the property for as long as they wish, subject to a valid S8 notice being served, etc. All ASTs therefore are now by default open-ended and a landlord cannot impose an end date for an AST.
Notice periods?
This area could cause some confusion for landlords that had pre-existing ASTs at the time the Renters Rights Act came into force. New assured periodic tenancies entered into after 1 May 2026 will allow tenants to give a maximum of two months’ notice for their tenancy to end. If, however, there was a pre-existing AST which allowed for a notice period of 1 month, then it is likely that the one-month notice period will survive and the tenant does not need to give any more notice than that. Similarly, a tenant and landlord may agree on a shorter notice period between them.
At Dyne Solicitors, we specialise in property litigation. For a no-obligation chat, please contact Patrik Jones-Wright or Alex Sandland.