At present, section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 allows a landlord to end an AST without a reason, a so-called 'no-fault eviction'. This will no longer be an option available following the Bill. Unless a s21 notice has been served before the Bill comes into force, this right will be lost overnight.

The Bill retains various grounds upon which a landlord can obtain possession of the property, some mandatory, others discretionary. Landlords should note, however, that several of these grounds require a longer notice period than the two months required under s21. There are also new grounds for possession, including for occupation or sale, that cannot be used within the first 12 months of a tenancy, creating a 12-month protected period for tenants but not for landlords.

Currently, if a tenant does not vacate the property after a s21 notice has expired, landlords can use an accelerated court procedure to obtain possession, meaning that the court can make a possession order without a court hearing. Under the Bill, if the tenant does not vacate after a notice of possession has been served, then the court will fix a hearing before it grants a possession order; this is likely to mean that it will take a lot longer for landlords to obtain a possession order, and they will need to prove in all cases that they satisfy the grounds for possession set out in the notice.