Section 8 Grounds For Possession (From 1st May 2026)

In a Section 8 notice the grounds for possession fall into two categories: Mandatory and Discretionary. The key difference is how much choice the court has.

If you rely on a mandatory ground, the judge must grant possession, but only if you prove the ground applies and all requirements are met.

With a discretionary ground, the judge can decide whether or not to grant possession, even if the ground is proven. The court considers fairness and circumstances.

Mandatory Possession Grounds

If you include mandatory possession grounds in your Section 8 notice, the court is required to grant possession provided the judge is satisfied that the criteria have been met.

As a result, your claim for possession is far more likely to succeed if it includes at least one of these mandatory grounds.

However, when relying on any of these grounds, it is essential to have solid evidence and to give the correct notice period, in order to avoid potential issues under the new offence of recklessly misusing a possession ground.

Ground 1 – occupation by landlord or family

If you or a close family member needs to move into the property, you will be able to use this ground.You will not be able to ask your tenant to leave for this reason within the first 12 months of a new tenancy.

Ground 1 notice period: 4 months’ notice

Ground 1A – sale of dwelling house

You will be able to use this ground if you intend to sell your property. You will not be able to ask your tenant to leave for this reason within the first 12 months of a new tenancy.

You cannot use this ground if 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’.

Most social landlords cannot use this ground.

Ground 1A notice period: 4 months’ notice

Ground 1B – sale of dwelling house that is part of Rent to Buy

This ground will apply to Private Registered Providers (PRPs) of social housing only.

If the property is part of a Rent to Buy scheme you will only be able to use this if you have offered your tenant the opportunity to buy the property at the end of the scheme. If they do not buy it, you will be able to use this ground to try and evict your tenant.

Ground 1B notice period: 4 months’ notice

Ground 2 – sale by mortgagee

A lender, for example, a bank, will be able to use this ground to gain possession of the property to sell it if you have missed mortgage payments. Your tenant will have to leave on the date mentioned in the court order.

Ground 2 notice period: 4 months’ notice

Ground 2ZA – possession when superior lease ends

When you lease your property from another person or organisation and sublet, the agreement is referred to as a ‘superior lease’. If the superior lease is ending within 12 months, you will be able to apply to court to evict your tenant. You will only be able to use this ground if you:

are an agricultural landlord
rent out supported accommodation
represent a company that a council owns half of or more
are a private registered provider of social housing (PRP)

Ground 2ZA notice period: 4 months’ notice

Ground 2ZB – possession when fixed term superior lease ends

When you lease your property from another person or organisation and then sublet, this is referred to as a ‘superior lease’. You will be able to use this ground to apply for a possession order if the lease is not going to be extended, has ended or will end within 12 months. You will only be able to use this ground if the lease was for a fixed term of over 21 years.

Ground 2ZB notice period: 4 months’ notice

Ground 2ZC – possession by superior landlord

When you lease your property from another person or organisation and then sublet, your lease with that person or organisation is referred to as a ‘superior lease’.  After a superior lease ends, the landlord under that superior lease can become your tenant’s landlord. They will be able to apply to court for a possession order to start the eviction process. That person will only be able to use this ground if you, as the original landlord, rented out the property under an assured tenancy and you were:

an agricultural landlord
providing supported accommodation
a company that the council owns half of or more
a Private Registered Provider of social housing (PRP)

Ground 2ZC notice period: 4 months’ notice

Ground 2ZD – possession by superior landlord (fixed term)

When you lease your property from another person or organisation and sublet, this is referred to as a ‘superior lease’. After a superior lease ends, the freeholder referred to as a ‘superior landlord’ can become your tenant’s direct landlord. The superior landlord will be able to apply to court for a possession order to evict the tenant.

This ground will only be able to be used if the lease was for a fixed term of over 21 years and has expired. The superior landlord or freeholder will have up to 6 months, from the date the lease reverted to them to apply to court using this ground.

Ground 2ZD notice period: 4 months’ notice

Ground 4 – student accommodation

This ground will only be able to be used by universities and colleges, and it will only apply to student accommodation. The property will need to have been let to students within 12 months before the start of the tenancy.

Ground 4 notice period: 2 weeks’ notice

Ground 4A – properties rented to students for occupation by new students

Your property will be a house of multiple occupation (HMO) if:

at least 3 tenants live there, forming more than 1 household
your tenants share a toilet, bathroom or kitchen

You will be able to use this ground if your HMO is let to full-time students and is needed for a new group of students in line with the academic year between 1 June and 30 September. However, you will not be able to use this ground to evict your tenants if the tenancy was agreed more than 6 months before the tenancy started. You will need to have given advance notice that you intend to use the ground.

Ground 4A notice period: 4 months’ notice

Ground 5 – ministers of religion

If you have rented out a property that is usually used to house a minister of religion, you will be able to use this ground if the property will be needed for that purpose again.

Ground 5 notice period: 2 months’ notice

Ground 5A occupation by agricultural worker

You will be able to use this ground if you will need to house someone who will work for you as an employed or self-employed agricultural worker.

Ground 5A notice period: 2 months’ notice

Ground 5B – occupation by person who meets employment requirements

This ground applies to PRPs only.

You will be able to use this ground if you usually use the property to let to a tenant based on their employment, for example, key workers. If your tenant does not meet the employment criteria, and you want to let it to a person who does, you will be able to use this ground to evict your tenant.

Ground 5B notice period: 2 months’ notice

Ground 5C – end of employment by the landlord

If your tenant was employed by you and your property was rented out as part of their employment, you will be able to use this ground if your tenant is no longer your employee.

You will also be able to also use this ground if the tenancy was not meant to last the duration of your tenant’s employment and the property is needed for a new employee.

You will also be able to use this ground when the property is let to police constables who are not classed as employees.

Ground 5C notice period: 2 months’ notice

Ground 5D – end of employment requirements

This ground applies to PRPs only.

As a Private Registered Provider of social housing, you may be renting the property out based on employment criteria. From 2027, if your tenant no longer meets the conditions, you will be able to use this ground. For example, they are no longer a key worker.

Ground 5D notice period: 2 months’ notice

Ground 5E – occupation as supported accommodation

If the property is usually used as supported accommodation and is currently let to private tenants, you will be able to use this ground to evict your tenant to rent it out again as supported accommodation.

You will only be able to use this ground if the type of supported accommodation the property is usually used for meets the correct definition in the Renters’ Rights Act.

Ground 5E notice period: 4 weeks’ notice

Ground 5F – dwelling-house occupied as supported accommodation

You will be able to use this ground if you rented out the property as supported accommodation. You will be able to use this ground for a range of reasons. Some of these include if the support has stopped or funding for the support has ended. You will also be able to use this ground if the supported accommodation is no longer suitable for your tenant because their support needs have changed.

You will only be able to use this ground if the type of supported accommodation you are providing meets the correct definition in the Renters’ Rights Act.

Ground 5F notice period: 4 weeks’ notice

Ground 5G – tenancy granted for homelessness duty

This ground will apply if your property was used as temporary accommodation to house tenants when they were statutorily homeless. If the council has told you that the housing is no longer needed, you will be able to apply to the court to start the process to evict your tenant. You will need to start the process within 12 months of the council notifying you.

Ground 5G notice period: 4 weeks’ notice

Ground 5H – occupation as ‘stepping stone accommodation’

You can only use this ground if you are a Registered Provider of social housing or a charity.

The tenant will need to have met eligibility criteria that were included in a written tenancy agreement and paid rent that is lower than 80% of market rent.

The tenancy agreement will need to tell your tenant what the eligibility criteria they need to meet are. These can only be that your tenant is:

a particular age or within a particular age range
in work or actively looking for work.

You cannot try to use other types of eligibility criteria for the purposes of using this ground.

The property may have been provided for a period of time to help your tenant to rent privately or transition to independent living.

You will be able to use this ground if your tenant no longer meets the eligibility criteria, or if the property was let to them for a period of time, which has now ended.

Ground 5H notice period: 2 months’ notice

Ground 6 – redevelopment

You will be able to use this ground if you will need to redevelop or demolish the property, and your tenant cannot live there whilst it is being demolished or redeveloped. Usually, you can’t evict someone on this basis in the first 6 months of the tenancy but the exact requirements can vary.

If you are a social landlord you may also need to provide alternative accommodation. If so, the accommodation will need to meet specific conditions. It will need to be affordable, in an appropriate location and house the people in your tenant’s household without overcrowding.

However, you will not need to provide alternative accommodation if you gave your tenant notice before the tenancy started that you intended to use ground 6.

Ground 6 notice period: 4 months’ notice

Ground 6A – decant accommodation

This ground applies to relevant social landlords only.

If you let out social housing and your tenant has been housed in alternative accommodation, you will be able to use this ground. This will apply if where they were living before was or is being redeveloped.

Alternative accommodation will need to be available for when your tenant is evicted. The accommodation could be the tenant’s previous home (that was redeveloped) or other accommodation. It will need to be a separate dwelling, be secure and affordable. If it is accommodation other than the tenant’s previous home, it will also need to be in an appropriate location and not overcrowded.

Ground 6A notice period: 4 months’ notice

Ground 6B – compliance with enforcement action

The court will be able to order you to get your property back if you have been investigated for breaking the law. Under this ground, the court will also be able to tell you to pay compensation to your tenant.

Ground 6B notice period: 4 months’ notice

Ground 7 – death of tenant

In cases where a person inherits a tenancy and they were not living at the property immediately before the former tenant’s death, you will be able to use this ground to try to evict them.

You will not usually be able to start the process to evict the person if 12 months has passed after the death of your tenant.

If the tenant who inherited the tenancy was living in the property before the former tenant’s death, then you will only be able to use this ground if:

the tenant who passed away had inherited the tenancy from someone else
it is a ‘special tenancy’, which includes where the tenancy is social housing, a rent to buy agreement, let as supported accommodation or granted because the tenant who passed away was considered statutorily homeless

An assured tenancy is automatically passed on to spouses, civil partners or cohabitees who also lived in the property, which is known as ‘succession’. You cannot use this ground to evict a tenant who has succeeded to a tenancy in this way.

Ground 7 notice period: 2 months’ notice

Ground 7A – severe antisocial or criminal behaviour

If your tenant or a person living with them or visiting them is convicted of criminal behaviour or breached an order to prevent antisocial behaviour you will be able to evict them using this ground. You will also be able to use this ground if the council or police have applied for a ‘closure order’ which means your tenant has not been able to access the premises for more than 48 hours.

Ground 7A notice period: You will not need to give a notice period and will be able to apply immediately to the court to start the process to evict your tenant.

Ground 7B – no right to rent

If your tenant has no right to rent under immigration law, the Secretary of State will give notice to you. For more information refer to the Right to Rent guidance.

Ground 7B notice period: 2 weeks’ notice

Ground 8 – rent arrears

You will be able to use this ground to evict your tenant if they owe you at least 3 months’ rent, if they pay rent monthly or at least 13 weeks’ rent, if the rent is paid weekly or fortnightly.

Your tenant will need to owe you 3 months or 13 weeks rent on the day you give them the notice and at the date of the hearing.

Your tenant will not be able to be evicted under this ground if they pay off what they owe or owe less than the amounts above by the time you get to court.

If your tenant owes 3 months or 13 weeks rent because they have not received their Universal Credit, you will not be able to evict them. Benefits are not counted when a tenant owes rent.

Ground 8 notice period: 4 weeks’ notice

Discretionary possession grounds

When a discretionary ground is relied upon, the judge is not obliged to grant possession unless they believe it is fair to do so.

Instead, they may dismiss the claim if they consider that outcome reasonable, or choose to make a suspended possession order or otherwise adjust the terms of the claim.

In light of this, you will need strong evidence and a persuasive case to have a realistic prospect of obtaining possession.

If your claim is based solely on discretionary grounds, it is strongly advisable to instruct a solicitor to manage the process.

Ground 9 – suitable alternative accommodation

You will be able to try to evict your tenant if they have been offered other accommodation that is suitable for them.

Ground 9 notice period: 2 months’ notice

Ground 10 – any rent arrears

If your tenant owes you rent, you will be able to try and evict them before they owe you 3 months’ rent. However, you will only get a possession order to evict them if the court believes it is reasonable.

Ground 10 notice period: 4 weeks’ notice

Ground 11 – persistent arrears

You will be able to try to evict your tenant if they have repeatedly delayed paying rent.

Ground 11 notice period: 4 weeks’ notice

Ground 12 – breach of tenancy

If your tenant has broken one or more terms in the tenancy agreement that is not related to paying rent, you will be able to try and evict them using this ground.

Ground 12 notice period: 2 weeks’ notice

Ground 13 – deterioration of property

You will be able to try and evict your tenant if they have allowed the condition of the property to get worse.

Ground 13 notice period: 2 weeks’ notice

Ground 14 – antisocial behaviour

You will be able to use this ground if your tenant, a person that lives with them or a person who visits them commits antisocial behaviour. This will also apply when your tenant or a person living or visiting them has committed a serious offence near the property. The behaviour will not need to have been in the property, it could have happened nearby.

Ground 14 notice period: You will not need to give a notice period and will be able to apply immediately to the court to start the process to evict your tenant.

Ground 14A – domestic abuse

This ground applies to social landlords only.

You will be able to try and evict your tenant for carrying out domestic abuse. You can only do this if their partner or a person living with them has left and is unlikely to come back.

Ground 14A notice period: 2 weeks’ notice

Ground 14ZA – rioting

If your tenant or another adult living with them has been convicted of an offence during a riot, you will be able to try and evict them.

Ground 14ZA notice period: 2 weeks’ notice

Ground 15 – deterioration of furniture

You will be able to try and evict your tenant if they have allowed the condition of the furniture to get worse.

Ground 15 notice period: 2 weeks’ notice

Ground 17 – false statement

If your tenant or someone acting on their behalf gave false information to get the property, you will be able to try and evict your tenant.

Ground 17 notice period: 2 weeks’ notice

Ground 18 – supported accommodation

If your tenant is in supported accommodation and you think that they are not co-operating with the support, you will be able to try and evict them.

You will only be able to use this ground if the type of supported accommodation you are providing meets the correct definition in the Renters’ Rights Act.

Ground 18 notice period: 4 weeks’ notice