Mustafa Sidki, a partner at Thackray Williams, said that his firm had seen four times the number of instructions for Section 21 notices this year than in 2025.
He said: “It’s been really, really busy this week with landlords asking for last-minute Section 21 notices to be served.
“There’s been a bit of a mad panic in the last few weeks with people upping the ante. There have also been lots of tenants who have been served with notices who are seeking advice as well.”
Paul Shamplina, of Landlord Action, said that the firm, which employs 25 people, had to stop taking on new work last week, after a surge in enquiries.
He said: “We had to stop taking work in the middle of last week on Section 21 notices.”
The campaigner said that one landlord he knew had told tenants in 51 of his 60 properties that they would need to leave before the rule changes.
Mr Shamplina said: “I’ve never seen anything like this, and I issued my first claim in 1991, when I worked in a firm of solicitors. In the history of Landlord Action, we’ve never had a spike and a surge in instructions like this.”
He warned that there could be a second spike ahead of a July 31 deadline for landlords who have served the now-banned Section 21 notices to enforce the eviction through the courts.
It can take several months to pursue an eviction through the courts, with wait times at a 20-year high, excluding the pandemic.
Under new reforms, councils have also been granted more powers to investigate rogue landlords, and fines for failing licensing requirements have increased.
Steve Reed, the housing secretary, said: “Banning unfair evictions is the biggest change to renting in a generation and will free families from the misery it has created.
“Kicking tenants out before they receive stronger rights is the type of disgraceful behaviour from shameless landlords which our act will stop.
“There is no need to evict their tenants ahead of this ban and landlords should give people the housing security they deserve.”
