Applying to court after serving a Section 21

Last reviewed 1 May 2024

Introduction

Once the notice period for a Section 21 notice has expired, most tenants will have moved out and you will be free to relet the property. In some cases the tenant will remains in the property though; in those cases your next step is likely to be applying to court for a possession order.

For most landlords this will mean applying to court under the accelerated possession procedure. The accelerated possession procedure is fairly straightforward and inexpensive and does not normally involve a court hearing. The court will make its decision by looking at the documents that the landlord and tenant provide to decide whether to grant/reject a possession order or to call a hearing if further investigation is warranted.

Renters’ Rights Act

The Renters' Rights Bill, the most significant set of changes to the PRS in over 30 years, completed its passage through parliament on 27th October 2025 and is now the Renters' Rights Act.

The legislation doesn't apply to your tenancies yet though. The legislation will not come into force until 1 May 2026. From that date, the Act will:

• Abolish Section 21;
• Change the notice periods and grounds available for Section 8 notices;
• Change the type of tenancy you can offer;
• Ban rent in advance before the tenancy is signed;
• Only allow rent increases via a Section 13 notice;
• Change advertising practices; and 
• Significantly strengthen local authority enforcement powers.

The rest of the of the Renters' Rights Act, including the private rented database and the Decent Homes Standard, will follow at a later date.

The advice and resources on this page is currently accurate but will be outdated on 1 May 2026. 

The NRLA is currently preparing a suite of replacement guides and tenancy documents to help you manage the transition smoothly.

For further information on the Renters' Rights Act and its details, please see our dedicated Renters' Rights hub.

When can I apply for a possession order using accelerated possession?

Landlords can only use the accelerated possession procedure to gain a possession order when a valid Section 21 notice has been served. These notices are only available to assured shorthold tenancies.

If you do have an assured shorthold tenancy then you can apply for a possession order using accelerated possession if:

• all of your tenancy agreements are in writing and you still retain copies of all of necessary the documents; and
• you have served a valid Section 21 notice and that notice has expired.

You will need to fill out an N5B form if you wish to seek a possession order using the accelerated possession route. Please note there are two different N5B forms - one for England and one for Wales so it's important to use the right one.

Court fees set to increase from 8 April 2025

The Government is set to increase court fees in line with CPI, with the majority of the fees changing by around 3.2%.

The expectation was that these changes would take effect on 1 April 2025, however, in the end the prices will now increase on the 8 April 2025.

For possession claims this means that fees will increase to -

• £404 for making a possession claim (was £391)
• £148 for applying for a warrant of possession (was £143)
• £313 for a general application on notice (N244) (was £303)
• £119 for a general application by consent/without notice (N244) (was £119)