The Government updated its Renters Rights Act possession guidance for private landlords again on 24 February 2026. This guidance sets out the changes for private landlords from 1 May 2026. 

The change is to add further detail to ground 1A which is the new sale ground for possession.  It clarifies that "You cannot use this ground if you are a private landlord and your tenant has an assured tenancy created before 1 May 2026 that was not an assured shorthold tenancy. These non-shorthold tenancies are sometimes known as assured ’lifetime tenancies’.

In other words, the sale ground is only available  against existing tenancies which are assured shorthold tenancies.  If a private landlord has granted a “full” periodic assured tenancy (unlikely but possible) before 1 May 2026, then the sale ground cannot be used at all after 1 May 2026. 

If private landlords have not read this guidance yet, its a helpful plain english place to start in understanding what the new and revised grounds for possession and notice periods.