Section 21 has gone. What that changes for renters in London
No-fault eviction ended on 1 May 2026. Most of the advice still online was written before that date and is now wrong.
For thirty-eight years a landlord in England could end an assured shorthold tenancy without giving a reason. Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 required only the right notice and the right paperwork; the tenant’s conduct, the rent record and the length of the tenancy were all beside the point. On 1 May 2026 that stopped.
The change matters more in London than almost anywhere, because London rents more than it owns. It also means most of what a search returns is out of date: guidance written before May describes a regime that no longer exists, and it is still the majority of what is published.
Right to Buy in London: the discount is £16,000, not £136,400
The London cap fell by around £120,000 in November 2024. Most of what is published still quotes the old figure.
What actually changed on 1 May 2026
The commencement regulations omit the whole of Chapter 2 of Part 1 of the Housing Act 1988 for the private rented sector. The practical effect is that a landlord who wants possession must now name a ground, and the ground has to be one Parliament has recognised. Notice periods follow from which ground is used rather than from a single fixed period.
One qualification is worth stating precisely, because it is the sort of detail that gets flattened in summaries. The provision was commenced "for specified purposes" — assured tenancies that are not social housing. Social housing assured tenancies are not yet covered.
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The notice periods that replaced it
Four months applies to the grounds a tenant is most likely to meet: the landlord moving in or selling the property. Neither of those can be used during the first twelve months of a tenancy, which is a real protection rather than a formality — it removes the tactic of granting a tenancy and ending it three months later.
Two months applies to a further set of grounds, four weeks to serious rent arrears, and two weeks to a group including certain breaches. Anti-social behaviour of the most serious kind can be immediate. A tenant giving notice gives two months.
The arrears threshold moved too. The mandatory ground now requires three months of arrears rather than two, with four weeks’ notice.
What a deposit may legally be
This did not change in May, but it is the rule most often broken in London and worth stating alongside. A deposit is capped at five weeks’ rent, rising to six weeks’ only where the annual rent is £50,000 or more. A holding deposit is capped at one week’s rent.
The deposit must be protected in one of three approved schemes — the Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits or the Tenancy Deposit Scheme — within thirty days. A landlord who fails to protect it can be ordered to pay the tenant up to three times its value. Where the return is agreed, it must be paid within ten days.
Rent Repayment Orders are now worth twice as much
A Rent Repayment Order requires a landlord to repay rent where certain offences have been committed — renting out an unlicensed property, for instance, or an unlawful eviction. On 1 May 2026 the maximum rose from twelve months’ rent to twenty-four. At London rents that is a substantial sum, and it applies to rent paid by the tenant or by housing benefit.
The London detail nobody gets right
Local Housing Allowance sets the maximum housing element of Universal Credit for private renters. Guides routinely describe an "Inner London" and an "Outer London" rate. There is no such thing. London is divided into fourteen separate Broad Rental Market Areas, and the difference between them is large: a one-bedroom rate is £1,439.97 a month in Central London and £950.00 in Outer South London.
Those rates are frozen at their April 2024 levels for the year from April 2026 to March 2027, which means they fall further behind market rents with every month that passes. The only reliable way to find your own rate is the postcode lookup on the Valuation Office Agency’s site, because the boundaries do not follow borough lines.
What has not arrived yet
Three parts of the reform are still to come, and it is worth knowing which, because they are frequently described as though they were already in force. The Private Rented Sector Database is expected from late 2026, the Landlord Ombudsman is not expected until 2028, and the Decent Homes Standard for private renting is still to be applied.
Questions this report answers
+Can my landlord still evict me without a reason?
No. Section 21 no-fault eviction was abolished for private tenancies in England on 1 May 2026. A landlord must now rely on a ground recognised in law, and the notice period depends on which ground is used.
+How much notice must a landlord give if they want to sell?
Four months. The same period applies where the landlord or a close family member intends to move in. Neither ground can be used in the first twelve months of the tenancy.
+What is the maximum deposit a London landlord can ask for?
Five weeks’ rent, or six weeks’ where the annual rent is £50,000 or more. A holding deposit is capped separately at one week’s rent. The deposit must be protected in an approved scheme within thirty days.
+How much rent can a Rent Repayment Order recover?
Up to twenty-four months’ rent, doubled from twelve on 1 May 2026. It applies where the landlord has committed certain offences, including renting out a property that should have been licensed.
News London Desk
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