Section 21 Is Gone: What Every Landlord in London and the East Midlands Must Do Right Now

From 1 May 2026, Section 21 no-fault evictions are abolished in England. If you own a rental property in Greater London or the East Midlands and you are still relying on an assured shorthold tenancy (AST), the rules you have operated under for decades changed overnight. Here is exactly what happened, why it matters, and what you need to do today.

What Changed on 1 May 2026

The Renters' Rights Act officially scrapped Section 21 abolished landlord 2026 provisions as an eviction tool. That means landlords can no longer serve a two-month notice and ask a tenant to leave without giving a reason. Every eviction now requires a Section 8 notice with at least one legally recognised ground — such as rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, or the landlord's intention to sell or move in.

In addition, every existing AST automatically converted to an assured periodic (rolling) tenancy on 1 May 2026. There are no more fixed-term tenancy agreements. The tenancy continues until either party formally ends it under the new rules. Critically, tenants now receive a minimum of four months' notice and are protected from eviction for the first 12 months of any new tenancy — a period the government calls the 'protected period.' Landlords who do not comply face civil penalties of up to £40,000 per breach, or in serious cases, criminal prosecution.

Why This Matters for London and East Midlands Landlords

In high-demand markets like East London, Barking, Ilford and Romford, and across Nottingham NG postcodes, the tenant market is tight and the pace of regulatory change has caught many landlords off guard. Many still have legacy ASTs in place that assumed a fixed-term structure. Those assumptions no longer hold.

The risk is not just legal. Landlords who do not adapt their management process — particularly around documentation, grounds for possession, and notice procedures — will find themselves unable to regain possession of their property when they need to, or face costly delays if they go to court without the right evidence in place.

Your 5-Step Response Plan

1. Audit your current tenancies. Check every tenancy you hold. All ASTs have now converted to periodic tenancies. Confirm your records reflect this.

2. Understand Section 8 grounds. Familiarise yourself with the statutory grounds for possession. You will need to know which apply in your circumstances and what evidence is required to support each one.

3. Review your rental agreements. Remove fixed-term clauses and update your template agreements to reflect the new periodic tenancy structure.

4. Document everything. Rent payments, communications, inspections, any breach of tenancy conditions — all of this forms your evidence base if you ever need to apply for possession.

5. Assess whether your current setup still makes sense. For many landlords, the Renters' Rights Act has made individual tenancy management significantly more complex. A guaranteed rent or company let arrangement removes that complexity entirely — you lease your property to a company, not an individual, so the new tenancy law does not apply in the same way.

The Alternative: Guaranteed Rent

AVS Consultation works with landlords in Greater London and across the East Midlands to convert individual let properties into company let arrangements. You receive a fixed monthly rent, regardless of occupancy, with no tenant-facing obligations, no void periods, and no Section 8 paperwork. If the new tenancy landscape is making you question whether individual letting is still worth it, that is a reasonable question to ask.

Ready to find out what your property could earn — or what placement needs we can meet? Book a free 15-minute consultation at www.avsconsultation.com/book-online.