Form 6A is the prescribed notice a landlord in England uses to seek possession under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, and it still works — for now. You can serve a valid Form 6A Section 21 notice up to and including 30 April 2026. On 1 May 2026 the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 abolishes Section 21 entirely, and no fresh Form 6A can be served after that date.1GOV.UK. Assured Tenancy Forms The minimum notice period is two months, the tenant does not have to be at fault, and every prerequisite has to be in place before service or the notice fails.
The 30 April 2026 Cutoff
Section 21 ends on 1 May 2026. From that date, assured shorthold tenancies are replaced by a single type of assured periodic tenancy, and landlords who want possession must rely on Section 8 grounds instead.1GOV.UK. Assured Tenancy Forms
A Form 6A validly served before 1 May 2026 does not automatically die on that date. Notices served between 1 February and 30 April 2026 remain usable, but the landlord must issue court proceedings by 31 July 2026. Miss that date and the notice cannot support a possession claim. If you have been sitting on a notice served earlier in the tenancy and have not yet filed at court, treat the July deadline as hard.
Prerequisites That Must Be Met Before Service
Courts do not overlook these. Tenants and their advisers check each one, and a single failure invalidates the notice regardless of how correctly the form itself is completed.
Deposit Protection
The tenant’s deposit must be held in a government-approved tenancy deposit protection scheme within 30 days of the landlord receiving it.2GOV.UK. Tenancy Deposit Protection Within that same 30-day window, the landlord must give the tenant the “prescribed information” about the scheme, including the scheme administrator’s contact details, the dispute resolution procedures, and a signed confirmation that the details are accurate.3Legislation.gov.uk. The Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007 If the deposit was never protected, or the prescribed information never delivered, the Section 21 notice is invalid.
Documents the Tenant Must Have Received
Three documents must have reached the tenant before Form 6A is served:
- A valid Energy Performance Certificate.
- A copy of the current gas safety record. A copy of the most recent gas safety record must also have been given to the tenant before they moved in.
- The current version of the government’s How to Rent: the checklist for renting in England.
Missing any of these makes the notice invalid.4GOV.UK. Evicting Tenants in England – Section 21 and Section 8 Notices Some defects can be cured by providing the document before serving the notice, but a gas safety certificate that was not in place at the required time may not be fixable at all.
Timing Restrictions
Form 6A cannot be served during the first four months of the tenancy.4GOV.UK. Evicting Tenants in England – Section 21 and Section 8 Notices During a fixed term, the notice cannot expire before the fixed term ends unless the tenancy contains a break clause.
Retaliatory Eviction
If the local authority has served an improvement notice or emergency remedial action notice on the landlord about the property, no Section 21 notice can be served for six months from the date of that local authority notice.5Legislation.gov.uk. Deregulation Act 2015 – Retaliatory Evictions A Form 6A served inside that window is void.
Completing the Form and Calculating the Notice Period
Names and addresses of the landlord and every tenant on the tenancy agreement must appear on the form exactly as they appear on the agreement itself. The form, or a document containing the same information as the prescribed form, is available from the GOV.UK assured tenancy forms page.1GOV.UK. Assured Tenancy Forms
The notice period is at least two months from the date the tenant receives the notice. You state a date on the form after which possession is required, and that date must sit at least two full calendar months after service. For a contractual periodic tenancy where rent is paid for periods longer than two months, the notice must match the rental period; a tenant paying quarterly gets at least three months.4GOV.UK. Evicting Tenants in England – Section 21 and Section 8 Notices A single day short kills the notice, so most landlords add a small buffer.
Serving the Notice
The two usual methods are hand-delivery and first-class post. Hand-delivery counts as served on the day the tenant receives it. An independent witness or a signed acknowledgment of receipt makes later disputes easier to defend.
First-class post is generally deemed served on the second working day after posting, and it is the deemed date that starts the notice clock. Post on a Monday and Wednesday is your service date. A Royal Mail certificate of posting gives you evidence of when the notice was sent if the tenant later contests receipt.
When court proceedings follow, you file a certificate of service on Form N215 confirming when and how the notice was delivered.6GOV.UK. Certificate of Service in Civil Cases – Form N215 Sloppy completion of this document is a common source of delay.
If the Tenant Does Not Leave
Once the date on the Form 6A passes, you cannot change the locks or remove the tenant’s belongings. That is a criminal offence under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. The route is a court application for a possession order.
The Accelerated Possession Procedure
Because no fault has to be proved, most Section 21 claims use the accelerated possession procedure, which is usually decided on the papers with no hearing. The court fee is £404. A judge reviews the paperwork and, if everything is in order, issues a possession order. A hearing only takes place if the tenant files a defence or the paperwork is defective, and the tenant has 14 days from receiving the application to raise a challenge.7GOV.UK. Evicting Tenants in England – Accelerated Possession Orders
Court proceedings must be started within six months of the date the notice was given. Wait longer and you have to serve a fresh notice — which, from 1 May 2026, will no longer be an option.
The Possession Order and Warrant
A possession order sets a date by which the tenant must leave, usually 14 to 28 days after the order is made. In cases of exceptional hardship a judge can extend that to a maximum of six weeks.8GOV.UK. Understanding the Possession Action Process – A Guide for Private Landlords in England and Wales
If the tenant is still there after that date, the landlord applies for a warrant of possession using Form N325. The warrant authorises a county court enforcement agent to remove the occupants, and the bailiff must deliver a notice of eviction to the property at least 14 days before the eviction. Even with a valid possession order, evicting without a warrant is unlawful.
What Replaces Section 21 After May 2026
Landlords who miss the 30 April 2026 window, or whose situation arises later, will need to use Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 and prove one of the grounds in Schedule 2. The Renters’ Rights Act adds two mandatory grounds most private landlords will rely on: Ground 1, where the landlord or a close family member intends to move in as their main home, and Ground 1A, where the landlord genuinely intends to sell. Both require four months’ notice, cannot expire within the first 12 months of the tenancy, and require proof of genuine intention rather than the no-reason approach Form 6A allowed.