Ground 11: Persistent Delay in Paying Rent

Ground 11 is the discretionary ground for a tenant who persistently pays rent late — even if, by the time the case reaches a hearing, the arrears have been cleared entirely. It is evidence-heavy by nature: the whole case turns on demonstrating a pattern over time, not a single snapshot figure.

Statutory basis

Ground 11 sits within Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988, unaffected in its own substantive terms by the Renters' Rights Act 2025's reform of the wider Schedule.

What it targets

Ground 11 is not about the amount owed at any given moment — it is about the pattern of lateness in how rent has been paid over the course of the tenancy. A tenant can be the subject of a Ground 11 claim even where they are, at the point of the hearing, fully up to date, provided the history shows persistent delay in paying.

This distinguishes Ground 11 sharply from Grounds 8 and 10, both of which require arrears to actually exist at the relevant points in time.

Mandatory or discretionary

Discretionary. The court must be satisfied both that a persistent pattern of late payment is made out on the evidence, and that granting possession is reasonable in the circumstances.

Notice period

4 weeks.

Evidence courts expect

Ground 11 lives or dies on the quality of the payment record. Useful evidence includes:

• A complete, dated rent ledger covering the whole tenancy (or a substantial, representative period of it), showing not just amounts but actual payment dates against due dates.
• A clear, visible pattern — rent consistently paid one, two, three or more weeks after the due date, repeated across many rent periods, is far more persuasive than a handful of isolated late payments across a long tenancy.
• Any communications — reminders sent, tenant responses, promises to pay by a certain date that were then broken — which help establish that the lateness was a genuine pattern rather than a couple of understandable one-off delays (illness, a payment processing error).
• Context on the underlying cause, where known — a tenant who is chronically disorganised about payment timing presents differently to a court than one whose lateness tracks a specific, resolved cause (for example, a period of unemployment that has since ended).

Why landlords plead Ground 11 alongside Ground 8

Ground 11 is one of the two standard discretionary fallbacks pleaded alongside Ground 8 (the other being Ground 10). If a Ground 8 claim collapses because the tenant pays down arrears below the mandatory threshold before the hearing, a documented pattern of persistent lateness under Ground 11 gives the court a separate, discretionary basis to consider possession even though the mandatory route has failed.

What the reasonableness test weighs

Because Ground 11 is discretionary, the court looks beyond the bare pattern of lateness to the wider picture:

• How long the pattern has persisted, and how consistent it has been.
• Whether the tenant's circumstances explain or excuse the lateness (irregular income, benefit-payment timing, a temporary crisis that has since resolved).
• Whether the lateness has caused the landlord genuine difficulty (for example, affecting their own mortgage payments), which can weigh in favour of possession.
• Whether the tenant has taken any steps to address the pattern once it was raised with them.

Transitional position

Ground 11 continues to operate as before the Renters' Rights Act 2025 reform, on any assured tenancy from 1 May 2026 onward, including tenancies converted from fixed-term ASTs. A pattern of late payment established before the reform can be relied on in a Ground 11 claim served after 1 May 2026 — the ground looks at the pattern as a whole, not just conduct after a particular date.

Common mistakes

• Relying on a thin payment record. A ledger with gaps, or one that only covers the last few months, undermines the "persistent pattern" argument Ground 11 depends on.
• Treating one or two late payments as sufficient. Courts are looking for a genuine pattern, not an isolated lapse — especially one with an obvious, resolved explanation.
• Ignoring the tenant's explanation. A court exercising discretion will weigh any account the tenant gives for the pattern; a landlord who cannot show they considered or responded to that context presents a weaker case on reasonableness.
• Using Ground 11 where genuine current arrears exist. If there are arrears at the hearing, Ground 8 or Ground 10 may be the more direct route — Ground 11 is most valuable specifically where arrears have been cleared but the underlying pattern is still worth evidencing.

The cost of getting it wrong

As with every ground, citing Ground 11 without a genuine, evidenced pattern risks a civil penalty of up to £7,000, rising to £40,000 (as an alternative to prosecution) plus a possible rent repayment order of up to two years' rent, where the landlord acted knowingly or recklessly and the tenant left without a court order.

What happens next

If the tenant does not leave once the Form 3A notice expires, the landlord files Form N5 with Form N119 particulars of claim, court fee £415. Bring the full payment ledger to the hearing — it is the entire case.

Related grounds and guides

See Ground 8: Serious Rent Arrears and Ground 10: Some Rent Arrears — the grounds Ground 11 most often accompanies. For the full ground list, return to Section 8 Grounds for Possession.