Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions will finally be abolished on 1 May 2026, the government has confirmed.
This will put to bed years of delays, as then-Prime Minister Theresa May first announced that they would be scrapped in April 2019.
The ban has proved controversial for landlords, who commonly use the Section 21 eviction route even when they have a valid reason to remove a tenant.
This is because the Section 8 eviction route forces landlords to use the creaking court system, resulting months of delays to get a hearing date and a court-appointed bailiff. The government has indicated that digitisation of the court system may alleviate these issues.
David Smith, property litigation partner at London law firm Spector Constant & Williams said: “This will put agents under an immense amount of pressure to get everything done ready for the start date.
“As the government does not intend to give details of what needs to be in tenancy agreements until early in 2026 there will be very little time to prepare paperwork, train staff and update systems.”
Section 21 has proved controversial among tenant groups because it enables landlords to potentially evict their tenant as a form of revenge if they complain about the state of their property.
Ben Twomey, chief executive of campaign group Generation Rent, said: “This new law is a vital step towards re-balancing power between renters and landlords and should be celebrated.
“Our homes are the foundation of our lives, but for too long Section 21 evictions have forced renters to live in fear of being turfed out of our homes, preventing us from raising valid concerns with our landlords. At last we know when this outdated and unfair law will be sent packing.
“This Renters’ Rights Act is the result of years of tireless campaigning from the renter movement, alongside the dedication and strength of ordinary renters.
“Our work is far from done, particularly in challenging the unchecked and soaring cost of renting, but, with change on the horizon, I hope that renters across England can rest a little easier tonight in recognition of what we have achieved together.”
In terms of other reforms, landlords will be prevented from increasing rents more than one per year, while bidding wars among tenants will be abolished.
Section 21 eviction ban roadmap
Then-PM Theresa May pledged to abolish Section 21 in April 2019, saying: “Millions of responsible tenants could still be uprooted by their landlord with little notice, and often little justification”.
After that the Conservatives launched a consultation between July and October 2019, which concluded that the ban should go ahead.
It was then included in the 2019 Conservative Manifesto, as well as that December’s Queen’s Speech.
After that the ban faced years of delays, likely influenced by the covid 19 pandemic, where evictions were frequently banned and paused between March 2020 and May 2021.
By the time eviction cases could be heard again the court system ground to a halt amidst the backlog of cases.
Controversially the use of Section 21 actually became more common amidst continued talk of the ban, as landlords looked to evict tenants while they easily could.
Between July and September 2023 cases of no-fault evictions rose by 38%, analysis by Shelter shows.
The Conservatives finally launched the Renters’ Reform Bill in May 2023, which included the Section 21 eviction ban. However passage through parliament was slow and protracted, likely as the government had one eye on the court system’s already poor capacity to handle Section 8 possession claims.
The bill would eventually be scrapped altogether, as then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak seemingly surprised many in his own party by calling a general election in May 2024, resulting in the Bill failing to pass through parliament during the “wash-up” period.
After Labour won the July 2024 election the party resurrected the legislation as the Renters’ Rights Bill in September, which also introduced other measures like switching assured shorthold tenancies to periodic.
It was granted Royal Assent on 27 October, becoming the Renters’ Rights Act.
More information on the Renters’ Rights Act is here.