Section 8 notices: grounds, notice periods and process

Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 lets a landlord seek possession of an assured or assured shorthold tenancy by serving notice that specifies one or more grounds from Schedule 2 of the Act. It is a notice of intention to go to court — not an eviction, and not a licence to change the locks.

In England the notice must be given on the prescribed Form 3. You must state each ground you rely on, give the particulars — the facts that make that ground apply — and state the earliest date on which court proceedings can be started.

Schedule 2 splits into mandatory grounds, where the court must order possession if the ground is proved, and discretionary grounds, where it must also be satisfied that possession is reasonable.

• Ground 8 — serious rent arrears (mandatory). Arrears must exist both at service and at the hearing. Historically two months (or eight weeks); the Renters' Rights Act raises this to three months. A tenant paying down below the threshold before the hearing defeats it.
• Grounds 10 and 11 — arrears and persistent late payment (discretionary). Usually pleaded alongside ground 8 so the claim survives a last-minute part payment.
• Ground 12 — breach of the tenancy agreement (discretionary). Needs a clear written term and evidence it was broken.
• Ground 13 — damage to the property (discretionary). Deterioration caused by the tenant or their visitors.
• Ground 14 — nuisance or anti-social behaviour (discretionary). Proceedings can be started immediately after service.
• Grounds 1 and 1A — landlord moving in, or selling. Long notice periods and, under the reformed regime, restrictions on re-letting afterwards.

Plead every ground the facts support. Adding a ground later usually means serving a new notice and starting the clock again.

There is no single section 8 notice period — it is set by the grounds you use, and where you rely on several, the longest one governs the earliest court date you can put on the notice.

• Anti-social behaviour (ground 14): proceedings may begin immediately.
• Rent arrears grounds: historically two weeks; longer under the reformed regime.
• Landlord's own occupation or sale: two months historically, four months once reformed.

Notice periods have been changed repeatedly — by pandemic-era regulations and now by the Renters' Rights Act commencement timetable. Check the period in force on the day you serve, not the one you remember from the last tenancy. Our Renters' Rights Act guide tracks what has commenced.

• Use the current version of Form 3 — old versions are routinely rejected.
• Name every tenant on the tenancy agreement, spelled as on the agreement.
• Set out particulars for each ground: dates, amounts, incidents, not just the ground number.
• For arrears, attach a rent schedule showing rent due, rent paid and the running balance by date.
• Serve in a way the tenancy agreement permits, and keep proof — a dated photograph, a certificate of service, a witness, or recorded delivery.
• Diarise the earliest court date and the twelve-month expiry of the notice.

If the tenant has not left, you apply to the county court for a possession order. Section 8 claims cannot use the accelerated procedure, so there will be a hearing. Arrears claims are often listed quickly but can be adjourned where the tenant raises disrepair, a counterclaim, or a benefit delay.

A possession order gives a date to leave. If that passes, you apply for a warrant of possession and county court bailiffs carry out the eviction. Evicting without a court order — changing locks, removing belongings, cutting off utilities — is a criminal offence under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.

Possession claims are won on records, not recollection. Bring a complete rent ledger, the signed tenancy agreement, deposit protection and prescribed information, in-date gas and electrical certificates, the EPC, and a dated log of repair reports and what you did about them.

Gaps in that pack are where defences and counterclaims are built. The compliance checklist sets out what should be on file for every property, and the eviction process guide walks through the stages end to end.