The UK’s Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (formerly the Bill) has passed into law but is being introduced in stages, with the main provisions taking effect from May 1, 2026, which will abolish Section 21 “no-fault” evictions and convert fixed-term tenancies to periodic ones, while other measures like the national landlord database will follow later, so currently, existing tenant rights remain largely the same until these phased changes start.

Depending upon the reason for possession, there are different procedures you must follow as a Landlord if you want your tenants to leave your property. The procedure you will need to follow will depend on the type of tenancy agreement you have and the terms of agreement.

Mostly commonly, agreements tend to be an assured shorthold tenancy, and landlords can evict tenants by serving a section 8 notice (standard possession claims) or a section 21 notice (accelerated possession procedure) or both under the Housing Act 1988.

A Section 21 Notice of Possession

A Section 21 notice of possession is served to give ‘notice of possession’ to the tenant. This means you can take back possession of your property at the end of a fixed-term tenancy agreement. An advantage of this is that you don’t have to provide any reason to claim possession when you serve a valid Section 21.

 

A Section 8 Eviction Notice

A Section 8 eviction notice is served when you have grounds for eviction. For example, the tenant has not paid the rent, damaged the property or is causing a nuisance. In such cases you can terminate the tenancy during its fixed term if the tenant has breached the tenancy agreement. Your tenant may dispute it, and it could go to court where you’ll need to evidence the reason for the eviction.

 

Giving Notice to the Tenant

It is very important that the correct time frames are provided within the notice to the tenant. If the time frames are incorrect this will make the notice invalid and will have an adverse impact upon court proceedings should the tenant not vacate.

 

Possession Claims

Should you need to issue proceedings, possession claims normally commence in the County Court.

Here at Wrigley Claydon, we have been acting for both public and private landlords for over 30 years and can help you with every step of the possession process and help you recover your property.

Contact Shalish Mehta on 0161 624 6811 (Option 6) or email at sm@wrigleyclaydon.com