Landlords, the Court Deadline for Section 21 notices Is This Friday!

This is one of the most important dates in the Renters' Rights Act transition, and a lot of landlords don't realise the clock has almost run out. Here's exactly where you stand and what you need to do before the end of the week.

What's actually happening

Section 21 — the "no-fault" eviction route — was abolished on 1 May 2026 when the main tenancy reforms in the Renters' Rights Act 2025 came into force. No new Section 21 notices can be served after that date.

But the Act didn't switch everything off overnight. If you served a valid Section 21 notice before 1 May 2026, transitional rules let you still rely on it — for a limited window. That window closes on 31 July 2026.

The deadline in plain terms

To keep a pre-1 May Section 21 notice alive, you must apply to the court to issue your claim for a possession order on or before Friday 31 July 2026.

This is a hard statutory cut-off written into the Act itself. It can be earlier than the timescale printed on your notice form, so don't rely on the notice's own dates. If your paperwork hasn't been issued at court by close of business on Friday, the notice lapses and you can no longer use it.

What happens if you miss it

If you don't get your claim issued in time:

The Section 21 notice becomes invalid and can't be revived.
The tenancy converts to an assured periodic tenancy under the new regime.
To regain possession, you'll have to start again using the Section 8 grounds — the only possession route left after 1 May 2026 — which means a valid reason, supporting evidence, and a court hearing.

In short: missing Friday doesn't just cost you time, it moves you onto an entirely different, more demanding process.

Does this apply to you?

You need to act now if all of these are true:

You served a Section 21 notice before 1 May 2026.
Your tenant is still in the property.
You have not already issued court proceedings.
The notice hasn't already expired or lapsed.

If that's your situation, this is a "today" job, not a "next week" job.

Watch the validity traps

The old Section 21 traps still bite — and with the deadline hours away, there's no time to re-serve if something is wrong. Before you issue, double-check:

The deposit was protected and prescribed information served correctly.
The tenant received the gas safety certificate, EPC and the How to Rent guide.
The correct form and dates were used on the notice.

If any of these are missing, a court can throw the claim out, and after Friday you won't be able to fix it under Section 21.

What to do right now

Pull the file on any tenancy where you're relying on a pre-May Section 21 notice.
Confirm the notice was served before 1 May 2026 and is otherwise valid.
Get the possession claim issued at court before Friday 31 July 2026.
If you're not sure whether your notice qualifies or your paperwork holds up, get advice today — not Friday afternoon.

We can help

At The Lettings Club, we're working through our managed landlords' portfolios ahead of this deadline. If you have a live Section 21 notice and you're not certain where you stand, get in touch with the team straight away and we'll help you work out whether you need to act before Friday.

Time on this one is genuinely running out — don't let a valid notice lapse because it sat on a desk a day too long.