Section 21 Notice
Last reviewed 6th December 2023 - update to FAQ due to gas safety judgements in county court
Section 21 Notice
When you have entered into an assured shorthold tenancy agreement with your tenant, you may recover possession of the property from them by using a Section 21 notice. However, there are a number of procedural requirements that you must have complied with if you wish to use this type of notice to regain possession of a property.
On this page, you will find all the information and resources you need to confidently seek possession using a Section 21 notice, ensuring you’re complying with all the relevant legislation.
NRLA members have exclusive access to our Section 21 (Form 6a) completion notes, which provide all the relevant guidance on completing the form to ensure you don’t get anything wrong and find yourself in legal trouble.
Join the NRLA for access to unlimited Section 21 advice from our experts, a wide range of exclusive resources to help you with ending your tenancy, and discounts across a variety of shops and services.
Renters’ Rights Bill
The Renters' Rights Bill is expected to come into force in summer 2025, making the most significant changes to the private rented sector in over 30 years.
Amongst other things, the Bill will -
• Abolish Section 21;
• Change the type of tenancy you can offer;
• Introduce a new Decent Homes Standard to the PRS;
• Change advertising practices; and
• Significantly strengthen local authority enforcement powers.
The advice and resources on this page will be outdated once the Bill comes into force. The NRLA is currently preparing a suite of replacement guides and documents to help you manage the transition smoothly.
For further information on the passage of the Bill and its details, please see our dedicated campaigns hub
What is a Section 21 notice?
Landlords can use a Section 21 notice to recover possession of their property from tenants who they have an assured shorthold tenancy agreement with. Section 21 notices are sometimes referred to as ‘no fault’ notices because the landlord does not need to provide the tenant with a reason for the eviction.
Serving a Section 21 notice has historically been the most common way for landlords to begin the process of ending a tenancy, particularly because the route to possession is simpler than serving a Section 8 notice as it does not require you to attend a court hearing. Instead, a judge will assess the paperwork you provided and grant a possession order if they are satisfied with the paperwork.
However, you should bear in mind that the Renters’ Rights Bill is expected to abolish Section 21 in summer 2025. You can find the latest updates on this as they happen in our Renters’ Rights Bill campaigns hub.
Forms you need: Section 21 (Form 6a)
For landlords in England, the government produces a prescribed form (Form 6a) that must be used whenever you are seeking possession via Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.
Download Section 21 (Form 6a)
Please note that a new form was published on 1 October 2021. Landlords must use this new form for all Section 21 notices served on or after 1 October 2021. Using an old form can invalidate your notice, forcing you to restart the whole possession process again.
Completion notes for serving the Section 21 (form 6a)
The NRLA has produced completion notes to help you fill out the latest version of this document, available to members only.
We strongly recommend using our Section 21 notice example to ensure you complete the document correctly - getting it wrong could render your notice invalid or, in the worst-case scenario, lead to legal issues further down the line.
Making a mistake when filling out the Section 21 notice can be an intensely frustrating experience for landlords and agents. Often the first time a landlord will find out they have made a mistake on the form is months later when they are refused possession because of the error.
To help minimise the risk of rejection, the NRLA has produced some completion instructions for our members. These instructions provide guidance on completing and serving the form and how to ensure sufficient evidence of correct service.
We have also produced detailed guidance for our members on the requirements that must be met before serving a Section 21 notice as well as answering a number of frequently asked questions about the use of a Section 21 notice.