Section 21 to Section 8: How Landlords Can Stay Protected Under the New Rules

From 1 May 2026 the Renters' Rights Act 2025 is fully in force, and with it the biggest change to how we let property in England for a generation. Section 21, the "no-fault" notice most landlords have leaned on for years, is gone. Fixed terms are gone. Every assured tenancy in the country, whether it started last week or a decade ago, becomes an Assured Periodic Tenancy, and every route to getting your property back now runs through Section 8 and the courts.

The new system is slower and more expensive than what we had. I won't pretend otherwise. What I will say is this: landlords who get their heads around the changes now, and put sensible protections in place, will be fine. The ones who don't are going to have a rough couple of years.

So here's what's actually changed, and what I'd suggest doing about it.

What Section 21 gave us, and what Section 8 asks of us

Section 21 was straightforward. Two months' notice, no reason required, and if the tenant stayed past the date you used the accelerated procedure, which was largely a paperwork exercise. A judge looked at the forms, made the order, done. In most cases there was no hearing at all.

Section 8 has always been the other option. Grounds-based. Rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, breach of tenancy, and so on. It has always required a hearing, it has always been slower, and most landlords avoided it when they could.

From 1 May, that choice is gone. Section 8 is the only route. Every possession claim now requires a court order. There is no paper-only version. There is no shortcut.

The five things to actually understand

You need a reason, and evidence to back it up. You can't simply want your property back. You have to fit the situation into one of the statutory grounds and prove it. Rent statements, written communications, witness statements where relevant, whatever the ground needs. The burden of proof sits with you.

Notice periods are longer. Selling or moving in needs four months' notice now, not two. Rent arrears under Ground 8 needs four weeks, up from two. Anti-social behaviour is actually stricter on tenants and can move quickly, but for the average case, assume longer.

The rent arrears threshold has gone up. Ground 8, the mandatory rent arrears ground, used to kick in at two months' arrears. It's now three. Your tenant can be two and a half months behind on the rent and you still can't serve the mandatory notice. You wait. The arrears grow.

Fixed terms are finished. Everything is periodic from day one. A tenant can give two months' notice and walk whenever they like. Your own ability to recover the property is limited to the Section 8 grounds.

You have to go through court. There is no alternative. I want to labour this point, because I still get calls from landlords asking whether they can just "have a word" with the tenant, or change the locks, or cut off the water. No. All criminal offences. Even with a valid Section 8 notice in hand and three months of arrears on the ledger, the law requires you to serve the notice correctly, wait out the notice period, apply to the county court, attend a hearing, win it, and then, if the tenant still refuses to leave, apply for a warrant of possession and wait for bailiffs.

Every one of those steps takes time, and every one of them costs money.

How long, and how much

The honest numbers.

Ministry of Justice data from the back end of 2025 put the median time from claim to repossession at 27 weeks. That was before the Act came into force, before every landlord in England was funnelled through Section 8, and before an already-stretched court system took on a fresh load of cases. I'd plan for longer, not shorter.

Twenty-seven weeks is a bit over six months. Add the time between the tenant first falling behind and you being able to serve notice. Add the notice period itself. Realistically you're looking at around nine months of potential lost rent before the property is back in your hands.

On cost, LegalforLandlords, one of the bigger players in landlord legal services, charges from £250.80 inc VAT just to draft and serve the notice. For a full rent arrears case taken all the way through to a possession order and enforcement, budget in the region of £2,000 in fees, with court and bailiff costs on top of that.

Take a fairly typical property at £900 a month. Nine months of lost rent is £8,100. Legal costs in the region of £2,000. Court and enforcement fees anywhere from £355 to £500-plus. Void period, cleaning, any damage, another £500 to £2,000. You can quite easily be ten to twelve thousand pounds out of pocket on a single bad tenancy.

And yes, the court can order the tenant to pay the arrears and your costs. In the real world, a tenant who's allowed things to get to three months of arrears doesn't usually have ten grand sitting in a savings account. You get your CCJ, and in most cases that's as far as it goes.

Where rent protection insurance earns its keep

For years I've recommended rent protection to the landlords we manage for. Some took it, plenty didn't, and under the old rules I could see the argument. Section 21 gave you a relatively quick exit when things went wrong. The premium didn't always look worth it.

That calculation is over.

A good policy will cover lost rent through the arrears period and the eviction itself, usually up to twelve months. Legal costs to take the case through court. Bailiff fees. Many policies will also cover a further period of lost rent after you've got vacant possession, while the property is being re-let.

Premiums, on most of the stock we see, sit somewhere in the £150 to £300 a year range per property. Against a potential ten-thousand-pound exposure, that's not a difficult decision. If you haven't had this conversation with whoever manages your property, you should be having it this month.

What we're doing at Castle Estates

Every one of our managed landlords has either had or is in the process of having a one-to-one on the new regime. We've already issued the mandatory Information Sheet to every existing tenant on our books, so that's done. We're going through every tenancy against the 1 May transition. Every new tenancy from May uses the new Written Statement of Terms. We've tightened how we track rent arrears so we're flagging problems weeks, not months, before Ground 8 even comes into view. And we're having a direct conversation with every landlord about rent protection cover.

The landlords who come out of this in good shape will be the ones who treat the 1st of May as a line to cross properly, not a storm to ride out. Get the paperwork in order. Know your grounds. Watch the ledger. Insure the risk you can't control.

If you own a rental property and you're not sure where you stand with any of it, pick up the phone. Half an hour on a call now is a lot cheaper than the alternative.

Michael Hayward
Director, Castle Estates (Nottingham) Ltd

This article is general information and isn't legal advice. Take proper advice on your own circumstances before serving any possession notice.