In short: rarely. Around 1.2% of private tenancies saw a possession claim in the year to June 2026, and a claim is not the same as an eviction. Most tenancies end because the tenant chooses to leave.

Updated 12 October 2026

This is part of What have landlords ever done for us? The 2026 data, our analysis of what the private rented sector actually delivers, drawn from the English Housing Survey, HMRC and Ministry of Justice figures.

The key facts

  • 58,400 possession claims. Private landlord and accelerated claims across England and Wales in the four quarters to June 2026. Ministry of Justice quarterly statistics.
  • 1.2% of tenancies. Set against 4.7 million privately rented households in England. Around ninety-nine tenancies in every hundred pass a year without a landlord going near a court.
  • 6% of landlords. Had evicted a tenant in the two years before being surveyed. English Private Landlord Survey 2024, published 5 December 2024.
  • 63% versus 14%. Share of ended tenancies where the tenant wanted to move, against those where the landlord or agent asked them to leave. English Housing Survey 2024-25, published 14 May 2026.
  • 57% were landlords leaving. Of renters asked to leave, the share where the landlord wanted to sell the property or move into it themselves.

In this article:

  1. How many tenancies actually end in eviction?
  2. Is a possession claim the same as an eviction?
  3. How many landlords have ever evicted a tenant?
  4. Why do most tenancies actually end?
  5. When landlords do end a tenancy, why?
  6. What changed under the Renters' Rights Act?
  7. Does any of this mean Section 21 should have stayed?

How many tenancies actually end in eviction?

Far fewer than the debate implies. Across the four quarters to June 2026, private landlord and accelerated possession claims in England and Wales totalled roughly 58,400. Set against 4.7 million privately rented households in England, that is about 1.2% of tenancies in a year.

Two things make the real figure lower still. The claim count covers England and Wales while the household denominator is England only, so the English rate sits a little below 1.2%. And a possession claim is only the first step in a court process, so the number of properties actually recovered is lower again.

Put the other way round, around ninety-nine tenancies in every hundred pass through a year without a landlord going anywhere near a court.

Is a possession claim the same as an eviction?

No, and the difference matters when you read a headline. A claim is a landlord asking the court to grant possession, not the end of the process. Between the claim and anyone leaving sit a hearing, a possession order, and then a separate application for a warrant and a bailiff appointment. Cases drop out at every stage, most often because the arrears are cleared or the tenant finds somewhere else and leaves before it gets that far.

Claims, orders, warrants and repossessions are published as four separate numbers by the Ministry of Justice for exactly this reason. Quoting the first as though it were the last overstates the position by a wide margin.

How many landlords have ever evicted a tenant?

The English Private Landlord Survey 2024 found that 6% of landlords had evicted a tenant in the previous two years. That is a two-year window, not a whole letting career, and the figure is often quoted as though it covered everything a landlord has ever done.

The comparison figure in 2021 was 3%, though possession action was restricted during the pandemic, so the earlier number is artificially low rather than evidence of a doubling.

The survey covered 9,216 landlords and 685 letting agents in England, which makes it considerably larger than most of what gets quoted on this subject.

Why do most tenancies actually end?

Because the tenant wants to move. The English Housing Survey records 63% of ended tenancies finishing because the tenant wanted to go, against 14% where the landlord or agent asked them to leave.

Landlords, asked the same question from their side, say much the same thing. 44% reported that their most recent tenancy ended because the tenant gave notice, against 8% who had asked the tenant to leave.

Those two pairs are not directly comparable and it is worth being clear why. The landlord survey asks each landlord about their own most recent tenancy, so someone with one property counts the same as someone with twenty, and its answer options cover a longer list of endings. The housing survey counts tenancies that ended, from the tenant's side. Both point the same way: tenant-initiated endings outnumber landlord-initiated ones by roughly five to one.

When landlords do end a tenancy, why?

Mostly because they are leaving, not because of anything the tenant did. Of private renters whose tenancy ended in the three years to 2024-25 and who were asked to leave, 57% said the landlord wanted to sell the property or move into it themselves.

Where the reason does involve the tenant, the two that dominate are the property not being looked after, at 43%, and rent arrears, at 42%.

The 57% figure deserves more attention than it gets, because it means the single largest cause of tenants losing a private rented home in England is landlords leaving the sector. That is worth holding in mind by anyone designing policy intended to help tenants. Measures that push marginal landlords towards the exit produce the outcome they are meant to prevent. Our analysis of what landlord costs now take out of every pound of rent sets out the arithmetic behind that decision.

What changed under the Renters' Rights Act?

Section 21 ended on 1 May 2026. A landlord in England can no longer end a tenancy without giving a reason, and every ending now runs through a specified ground with its own notice period and its own evidence.

Fixed terms went at the same time, so all tenancies are periodic and a tenant can give two months' notice from day one. The grounds covering sale and moving in carry longer notice and cannot be used in the first twelve months of a tenancy, which is aimed squarely at the 57% above.

The practical change for a landlord acting in good faith is paperwork and timing rather than permission. The change for the minority who used Section 21 badly is that the route has closed. Our guide to the Renters' Rights Act covers the grounds and notice periods in full.

Does any of this mean Section 21 should have stayed?

No. A power exercised rarely is still a power, and the small number of landlords who used it badly did real damage, both to the households involved and to the reputation of everyone else letting property.

The case for reform never rested on the claim that most landlords behave badly. It rested on the claim that the minority who did could not be dealt with any other way, and that was true.

What the numbers do change is the tone of the argument. A sector where 1.2% of tenancies reach a claim and 63% of endings are the tenant's own decision is not the sector described in most of the coverage. Both things can be true: the reform was needed, and the practice it targeted was rarer than the volume of debate suggested.

Sources

  • Ministry of Justice, Mortgage and Landlord Possession Statistics, quarterly releases covering Q3 2025 to Q2 2026, England and Wales. Private landlord and accelerated claims combined.
  • English Private Landlord Survey 2024, MHCLG, published 5 December 2024. Web survey of 9,216 landlords and 685 agents in England, fielded April to May 2024.
  • English Housing Survey 2024-25: private rented sector, pre-Renters' Rights Act overview, MHCLG, published 14 May 2026. How and why tenancies end.
  • The 1.2% rate is a Hello Neighbour calculation. The claim count covers England and Wales while the household denominator is England only, so the English rate is a little lower.

This article is general guidance, not legal advice, and reflects the law in force in England at the time of writing.

Download the full report: What have landlords ever done for us? The 2026 data. Twenty pages covering repairs, deposits, condition and eviction, with every figure sourced.

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