Section 8 Grounds for Possession: Every Ground Explained (2026)

Since 1 May 2026, Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 is the only route to possession of an assured tenancy in England. Section 21 no-fault eviction is abolished, and all tenancies are now periodic — fixed-term ASTs no longer exist. To evict, a landlord must serve Form 3A citing one or more of the grounds in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988, as rewritten by the Renters' Rights Act 2025, and prove that ground in court if the tenant does not leave.

Choosing the wrong ground, or the wrong combination, is the single biggest reason possession claims fail or get delayed. This guide sets out every ground, what it requires, how long notice you must give, and which grounds work together. The nine highest-demand grounds below now have their own dedicated, in-depth pages — see "In this section" above for the full list.

Key takeaways

• There is no longer a no-fault eviction route. Every possession claim under Section 8 must fit one of the statutory grounds in Schedule 2, Housing Act 1988 — this guide covers the grounds private landlords use in practice.
• Mandatory grounds (the court must grant possession once proven) include Grounds 1, 1A, 2, 4A, 6, 6B, 7, 7A, 7B and 8. Discretionary grounds (the court decides if it's reasonable) include Grounds 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 17.
• Only Grounds 1 and 1A carry the 12-month protected period — a notice on those grounds can't expire in the tenancy's first year. Every other ground is available from day one.
• Ground 8 (serious rent arrears) needs at least three months' arrears, both at service and at the hearing — arrears that drop below the threshold before the hearing defeat the mandatory claim.
• Citing a ground the landlord doesn't reasonably believe applies is now a specific offence, with civil penalties up to £40,000 and rent repayment orders up to two years' rent if the tenant leaves without a court order and the ground turns out to be false.

Section 8 after the Renters' Rights Act

Before 1 May 2026, most landlords used Section 21 because it didn't require a reason. That option is gone. Every possession claim now stands or falls on the ground cited, so understanding which ground fits the facts — and gathering the evidence to prove it — is the first job, not an afterthought.

The notice itself also changed. Private landlords must use Form 3A, the prescribed notice for assured tenancies from 1 May 2026. Form 3 still exists but is now reserved for social landlords; using it in the private rented sector is the wrong form. For how to complete and serve Form 3A correctly, see How to Serve a Section 8 Notice.

Mandatory grounds

If a landlord proves a mandatory ground applies, the court has no discretion — it must order possession. That makes these grounds powerful, but the evidence bar is correspondingly strict.

Ground 1: landlord or close family moving in

This ground applies where the landlord, their spouse or civil partner (or a person they live with as if married or in a civil partnership), the landlord's own parents, grandparents, siblings, children or grandchildren, or — more narrowly — a child or grandchild of that partner, need the property as a home. The partner extension reaches only their children and grandchildren, not their parents, grandparents or siblings, so a partner's parent (an in-law) is not covered even though the landlord's own parent is. Cousins, nieces, nephews and more distant relatives are not covered on either side. Corporate landlords cannot use Ground 1 at all — it depends on an individual needing to live there. See the full Ground 1 page for evidence and common mistakes.

Notice period: 4 months. The 12-month protected period applies: the notice cannot expire before the tenancy has run for a full year. Ground 1 also carries the same 12-month re-letting restriction described under Ground 1A below — it is not a Ground-1A-only rule.

Ground 1A: landlord selling

Ground 1A lets a landlord recover possession where they have a genuine intention to sell the property. "Genuine intention" means real evidence of an intended sale, not a pretext to remove a tenant. See the full Ground 1A page for the re-letting restriction and evidence courts expect.

Notice period: 4 months, and the same 12-month protected period as Ground 1 — the notice cannot expire in the tenancy's first year.

Grounds 1 and 1A both carry a serious restriction: a 12-month re-letting restriction, running from when the section 8 notice is served for 12 months from the date specified in the notice. The landlord cannot re-let or re-market the property during that period. Breaching it is a criminal offence, separate from the civil penalties described below under "Choosing your grounds."

Ground 4A: student HMO

Ground 4A is aimed at landlords letting to full-time students in a house in multiple occupation (HMO), where the property needs to be recovered for the next academic year's intake. It runs to six conditions in total, including: the property is an HMO where every tenant meets the student test; the landlord gave a written statement to that effect BEFORE the tenancy was entered into (not at signing); the tenancy was agreed within 6 months of the tenant moving in; and the landlord currently intends to let the property to another qualifying student on the next letting. See the full Ground 4A page for the exact expiry-window calculation and all six conditions.

Notice period: 4 months, and the notice must expire between 1 June and 30 September — aligned to the academic changeover.

Ground 7A: serious anti-social behaviour

Ground 7A is a mandatory ground for the most serious anti-social behaviour cases, made out on any one of five conditions: a relevant conviction, a court finding of breach of an ASB injunction, a conviction for breaching a criminal behaviour order, a closure order in force with access prohibited for a continuous 48+ hours, or a conviction for noise nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

There is no notice period: proceedings can be issued immediately after the notice is served. Where Ground 7A and/or Ground 14 are the ONLY grounds the court finds established, the possession order cannot take effect until 14 days after the notice was given (it can still be made straight away — only its effect is delayed). Ground 7A is also treated as exempt from the deposit-protection precondition described below, reflecting the urgency Parliament attached to this ground. See the full Ground 7A page for all five qualifying conditions.

Ground 8: serious rent arrears

Ground 8 is the mandatory arrears ground and the one most private landlords will use most often. It requires the tenant to be at least three months in arrears (13 weeks if rent is paid weekly or fortnightly) — and critically, that threshold must be met both when the notice is served and at the court hearing. If the tenant pays enough to drop below the threshold before the hearing, Ground 8 fails as a mandatory ground, even if arrears were well above three months when the notice went out.

One exclusion matters for arrears caused by benefit delays: arrears that arise solely because Universal Credit the tenant was entitled to has not yet been paid do not count toward the Ground 8 threshold.

Notice period: 4 weeks — doubled from the previous 2-week minimum. See the full Ground 8 page for why claims collapse and how to protect against it.

Other mandatory grounds, briefly

• Ground 2 — mortgagee repossession. Available where a lender enforcing a mortgage over the property needs vacant possession to sell. Notice period: 4 months.
• Ground 6 — redevelopment. The landlord intends significant redevelopment that can't be carried out with the tenant in occupation. For most private landlords the general condition is that the assured tenancy began at least 6 months before the date specified in the notice (or that a compulsory purchase process has begun) — an "acquired the interest before the tenancy" condition applies only in the narrower case covered by section 7(5ZA), broadly relevant social landlords. Notice period: 4 months.
• Ground 6B — enforcement action against the landlord. Applies where a relevant enforcement authority has taken action against the landlord that requires the property to be vacated — a banning order, licensing refusal, prohibition order, or similar. Notice period: 4 months. See the full Ground 6B page — note this is distinct from the much narrower, social-landlord-only Ground 6A, which some secondary sources conflate with it.
• Ground 7 — death of the tenant. Lets a landlord recover possession from a periodic tenancy after the sole tenant has died, provided proceedings begin within 12 months of the death. Notice period: 2 months.
• Ground 7B — no right to rent. Applies where the Home Office has confirmed that one or more (not necessarily all) occupiers have no right to rent in the UK. Notice period: 2 weeks.

Discretionary grounds

On a discretionary ground, proving the facts isn't enough — the court also has to decide it's reasonable to grant possession. That means the tenant's circumstances, conduct, and any mitigating factors are relevant, and the outcome is less predictable than a mandatory ground.

Ground 10: some rent arrears

Ground 10 covers any arrears that existed when the notice was served and are still unpaid on the date proceedings for possession are begun — a slightly earlier, more forgiving cutoff than Ground 8's "at the hearing" test — with no minimum threshold. Because it doesn't need to hit three months, it's commonly pleaded alongside Ground 8 as a fallback: if the tenant pays down arrears after the claim is issued but before the hearing, defeating Ground 8, Ground 10 can still support a discretionary order based on the earlier position. Notice period: 4 weeks. See the full Ground 10 page.

Ground 11: persistent late payment

This ground targets a pattern of persistently paying rent late, even where the tenant isn't in arrears at the time of the hearing. It's evidence-heavy — a payment history showing repeated lateness is the core of the case. Notice period: 4 weeks. See the full Ground 11 page.

Ground 12: breach of tenancy terms

Covers breach of any tenancy obligation other than rent payment — for example, unauthorised subletting, running a business from the property in breach of the agreement, or unauthorised alterations. Notice period: 2 weeks.

Ground 13: deterioration of the property

Applies where the condition of the property or common parts has deteriorated because of the tenant's (or a lodger's or subtenant's) neglect or default. Ordinary fair wear and tear doesn't count. Notice period: 2 weeks.

Ground 14: nuisance or annoyance

Covers conduct causing nuisance or annoyance to neighbours (no conviction needed), or a separate, less-used limb requiring conviction for using the dwelling for illegal/immoral purposes or an indictable offence nearby. This is the most flexible discretionary ground and has no minimum notice period — proceedings can start immediately. Where Ground 14 is relied on alone, or only alongside Ground 7A, an order made on that basis cannot take effect until 14 days after the notice was served — the same restriction that applies to Ground 7A. See the full Ground 14 page for how it differs from Ground 7A.

Ground 15: deterioration of furniture

The furnished-tenancy equivalent of Ground 13 — deterioration of furniture provided under the tenancy, caused by the tenant's ill-treatment. Notice period: 2 weeks.

Ground 17: false statement inducing the tenancy

Applies where the landlord was induced to grant the tenancy by a false statement made knowingly or recklessly by the tenant or someone acting on their behalf — for example, false information on a reference or application.

Grounds at a glance

Ground	Type	Threshold / condition	Notice period	Key restriction
1	Mandatory	Landlord or close family moving in	4 months	12-month protected period; 12-month re-letting restriction
1A	Mandatory	Genuine intention to sell	4 months	12-month protected period; 12-month re-letting restriction
2	Mandatory	Mortgagee repossession	4 months	—
4A	Mandatory	Student HMO, six conditions including written statement before tenancy	4 months	Must expire 1 Jun–30 Sep
6	Mandatory	Redevelopment; not normally in first 6 months	4 months	—
6B	Mandatory	Enforcement action against landlord	4 months	Distinct from social-landlord-only Ground 6A
7	Mandatory	Death of tenant	2 months	Proceedings within 12 months of death
7A	Mandatory	Serious anti-social behaviour (5 conditions: conviction, injunction-breach finding, CBO-breach conviction, closure order, noise-nuisance conviction)	None — apply immediately	Order can't take effect within 14 days of notice if 7A/14 are the only grounds established; own service deadline per condition
7B	Mandatory	No right to rent (Home Office notice)	2 weeks	—
8	Mandatory	3 months'/13 weeks' arrears at service AND hearing	4 weeks	UC-only arrears excluded
10	Discretionary	Arrears at service and when proceedings begin	4 weeks	—
11	Discretionary	Persistent late payment	4 weeks	—
12	Discretionary	Breach of tenancy terms	2 weeks	—
13	Discretionary	Deterioration of property	2 weeks	—
14	Discretionary	Nuisance/annoyance (or, separately, conviction-based limb)	Immediate	Order can't take effect within 14 days if relied on alone or only with 7A
15	Discretionary	Deterioration of furniture	2 weeks	—
17	Discretionary	False statement inducing tenancy	2 weeks	—

Choosing your grounds

Grounds can be pleaded together on the same notice and the same claim. The standard approach for rent arrears is Ground 8 with Grounds 10 and 11 — Ground 8 as the mandatory route, with 10 and 11 as discretionary backups if arrears fall under the three-month threshold before the hearing. Combining grounds means one weak ground doesn't sink the whole claim.

There is now a real cost to citing a ground carelessly. It's an offence to give a notice citing a ground without a reasonable belief that possession would actually be granted on it — the civil penalty is up to £7,000. If a landlord relies on a ground knowingly or recklessly, the tenant leaves within four months without a court order having been made, and the ground turns out to be unfounded, the penalty rises to up to £40,000 (as an alternative to prosecution), and the tenant can seek a rent repayment order of up to two years' rent. Only cite a ground you can actually evidence.

One more precondition applies across most grounds: a late-protected deposit no longer automatically bars a Section 8 order, unlike the old Section 21 regime. The compliance test is applied at the time the court makes the order, not before the notice is served — so a landlord who protects a deposit late, even after the claim has started, can still cure the defect before the order is made. Grounds 7A and 14 are treated as exempt from this requirement altogether, whether or not any other grounds for possession are met, given the urgency Parliament attached to serious anti-social behaviour cases.

Serving the notice: Form 3A

The prescribed notice for a private-landlord Section 8 claim is Form 3A, in force from 1 May 2026. It must state the ground(s) relied on and give the correct notice period for each — where more than one ground is cited with different notice periods, the longest applies. Getting the form, the grounds, and the notice period right is a process in its own right — see How to Serve a Section 8 Notice for the step-by-step.

Common mistakes

• Getting the arrears threshold wrong. Ground 8 needs three full months' (or 13 weeks') arrears at both service and the hearing — not "roughly three months," and not just at the point the notice was served.
• Letting arrears drop below threshold before the hearing. A Ground 8 claim pleaded alone can collapse if the tenant pays down arrears. Always plead Grounds 10 and 11 alongside it.
• Miscounting the 12-month protected period on Grounds 1 and 1A. The notice must not expire before the tenancy has run for a full 12 months — check the tenancy start date, not the notice date.
• Using Form 3 instead of Form 3A. Form 3 is for social landlords only from 1 May 2026; a private landlord using the wrong form risks the notice being defective.
• No documentary evidence. Discretionary grounds especially depend on evidence — arrears statements, a payment history for Ground 11, correspondence for Ground 12, photographs for Grounds 13 and 15. Assemble the evidence before serving, not after.
• Confusing Ground 6A with Ground 6B. Ground 6A is a narrow ground for social landlords recovering redevelopment-decant accommodation; Ground 6B is the general compliance-with-enforcement-action ground most private landlords need. The two are easy to conflate because they were inserted in neighbouring paragraphs of the same amending Schedule.

If the tenant doesn't leave once the notice expires, the next step is a standard possession claim: Form N5 with Form N119 particulars of claim at the County Court, with a court fee of £415 (raised from £404 on 13 July 2026). A hearing is typically listed 4–8 weeks after the claim is issued. For background on when Section 8 is the right route and how it compares with the possession process generally, see When Should a Landlord Use a Section 8 Notice and the Guide to Evicting a Tenant. For rent arrears specifically, see How to Evict a Tenant for Not Paying the Rent.

Related guides

For the full background on the reform itself, read Renters' Rights Act 2025 and Section 21 Abolition and Section 8. Once you've identified the right ground, How to Serve a Section 8 Notice covers the serving process in detail, and the Section 8 Notice to Quit template is ready to complete. If the claim proceeds to court, Form N5, Form N119 and Form N215 are the forms you'll need next.