Section 21 and Section 8 Notices
Section 21 and Section 8 notices
You can evict tenants who have an assured shorthold tenancy using a Section 21 or Section 8 notice, or both.
Use a Section 8 notice if your tenants have broken the terms of the tenancy.
Before serving notice, try to resolve any disputes with your tenant instead. For example, work with your tenant to manage rent arrears or agree a rent repayment plan if they have rent arrears.
Section 21 notice of seeking possession
You can use a Section 21 notice to evict your tenants either:
- after a fixed term tenancy ends – if there’s a written contract
- during a tenancy with no fixed end date – known as a ‘periodic’ tenancy
When you cannot use a Section 21 notice in England
You cannot use a Section 21 notice if any of the following apply:
- it’s less than 4 months since the tenancy started, or the fixed term has not ended, unless there’s a clause in the contract which allows you to do this
- the property is categorised as a house in multiple occupation (HMO) and does not have a HMO licence from the council
- the tenancy started after April 2007 and you have not put the tenants’ deposit in a deposit protection scheme
- the tenancy started after October 2015 and you have not used form 6a or a letter with all the same information on it
- the council has served an improvement notice on the property in the last 6 months
- the council has served a notice in the last 6 months that says it will do emergency works on the property
- you have not repaid any unlawful fees or deposits that you charged the tenant – read the guidance for landlords on the Tenant Fees Act 2019
You also cannot use a Section 21 notice if you have not given the tenants copies of:
- the property’s Energy Performance Certificate
- the government’s ‘How to rent’ guide
- a current gas safety certificate for the property, if gas is installed
You must have given your tenants the gas safety certificate and the ‘How to rent’ guide before they moved in.
You must have given your tenants a copy of the property’s Energy Performance Certificate before they rented the property.
When you cannot use a Section 21 notice in Wales
You cannot use a Section 21 notice if any of the following apply:
- it’s less than 4 months since the tenancy started, or the fixed term has not ended, unless there’s a clause in the contract which allows you to do this
- the property is categorised as a house in multiple occupation (HMO) and does not have a HMO licence from the council
- the tenancy started after April 2007 and you have not put the tenants’ deposit in a deposit protection scheme
- the tenancy started after November 2016 and you do not have a landlord licence
Giving tenants a Section 21 notice
In England, use form 6a if the tenancy was started or renewed after 30 September 2015. You can also write your own Section 21 notice.
In Wales, you must explain in writing that you are serving an eviction notice under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.
How much notice you need to give
In England, a Section 21 notice must give your tenants at least 2 months’ notice to leave your property.
You may need to give a longer notice period if you have a ‘contractual’ periodic tenancy. This is a fixed term tenancy that has ended, but included a clause to continue as a periodic tenancy. The amount of notice must be the same as the rental period, if this is more than 2 months. For example, if your tenant pays rent every 3 months, you must give 3 months’ notice.
In Wales, if it’s a periodic tenancy, you must let your tenants stay for the notice period and any additional time covered by their final rent payment.
After you give notice
Keep proof that you gave notice to your tenants – either:
- fill in the certification of service form (N215)
- write “served by [your name] on [the date]” on the notice
If your tenants do not leave by the specified date, you can use your completed N215 or notice to apply for an accelerated possession order.
Section 8 – Grounds For Eviction. Taking the professional tenant eviction route may sound expensive to many UK landlords, but it can actually work out to be the cheaper option because professional tenant eviction specialists, like LegalforLandlords, know what they’re doing and work fast.
Many landlords try to tackle the eviction process themselves by serving a Section 8, but there a few details that must be 100% accurate and many landlords attempting to evict tenant’s themselves unknowingly serve an invalid notice, consequently delaying the entire eviction process, which ultimately may result in more lost rent for the landlord.
A Section 8 notice to quit, sometimes referred to as a Section 8 possession notice has to be completed and served correctly on the tenant(s) of the rental property, allowing the landlord to seek possession of the rental property from the tenant during the term of the Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST).
The Section 8 notice needs to show that the tenant has breached the conditions of the tenancy agreement, any term or condition of the tenancy agreement that is seen to have been broken constitutes a breach. The most common type of breach is the non-payment or late payment of rent, however, damage to the property, unsociable conduct, and subletting are also grounds for a possession order.
To make a Section 8 form valid, the landlord must state which grounds the tenant has breached according to Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988
All Section 8 forms require the landlord to specify the grounds they are citing as reason for eviction.
These grounds for possession, under Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988, fall into 2 main categories and are listed below
- Mandatory Grounds – this covers Grounds 1 to 8 and if one of these grounds is cited on a Section 8 form the court must grant possession to the landlord.
- Discretionary Grounds – this covers Grounds 9 to 17 and in these cases the court will only grant possession if it feels it is reasonable to do so.
| Ground | Short Description |
| Ground 1 | The landlord requires the property in order to use it as their main residence. This ground can only be used if the landlord used the property as their main residence prior to the tenancy beginning. |
| Ground 2 | The mortgage lender on the property has served notice to foreclose. In this case the mortgage in question has to predate the start of the tenancy. |
| Ground 3 | The property was previously used as a holiday let and is required to return to the status of holiday let. For the exact conditions that apply to this Ground please see the Housing Act 1988. |
| Ground 4 | The property is being let by an educational institution and is now required by students of the educational institution. Written notice that this may happen must be served before the tenancy begins. |
| Ground 5 | The property is owned by a religious body and they require possession for a member of their church i.e. a Minister of Religion. |
| Ground 6 | The landlord wants to demolish and reconstruct, or redevelop all or part of the property. The tenant needs to have refused to live in all or part of the property while work is carried out for this ground to be feasible. If granted the landlord is required to pay all reasonable moving costs to the tenant. |
| Ground 7 | The current tenant is a tenant heir and is not named on the original tenancy agreement. The landlord must serve a Section 8 notice within 12 months of the death of the named tenant. |
| Ground 8 | The tenant has failed to pay more than 8 weeks rent in the case of weekly payments, 2 months in the case of monthly payments or 1 quarter in the case of quarterly payments. Ground 8 is often cited in conjunction with Grounds 10 and 11 so that a partial payment by the tenant just prior to the court hearing doesn’t render the possession order obsolete. Note: When claiming possession under this ground, it is advisable to cite more than one ground since, if the tenant pays off part of the arrears shortly before the hearing, this ground can no longer be proved and possession proceedings will have to be abandoned. It is, therefore, common practice to cite more than one ground for rent arrears (i.e. grounds 8, 10 & 11), if applicable, and to also wait until at least two months’ rent (or eight weeks in the case of a weekly tenancy) is unpaid before issuing the Section 8 Notice. |
| Ground 9 | Suitable accommodation of the same type and quality has been offered to the tenant and refused. The landlord is required to pay all reasonable removal costs if possession is granted. |
| Ground 10 | The rent is in arrears but by no more than 8 weeks in the case of weekly payments, 2 months in the case of monthly payments and 1 quarter in the case of quarterly payments. |
| Ground 11 | The tenant is repeatedly late with payments or repeatedly fails to pay their rent until prompted by the landlord. |
| Ground 12 | The tenant has breached any of the terms listed in the tenancy agreement. |
| Ground 13 | The tenant has neglected or damaged the property, or they have sublet the property to another individual who has neglected or damaged the property. |
| Ground 14 | The tenant is considered a nuisance to neighbours or other tenants and has received complaints concerning their conduct. |
| Ground 15 | The furniture listed on the property inventory has been misused, damaged, broken or sold by the tenant or any individual living with them. |
| Ground 16 | The property was let to the tenant as a condition of their employment but the employment has now come to an end. |
| Ground 17 | The property was let on the basis of false information provided by the tenant or one of their referees/ guarantor. |
How much notice is given in a Section 8?
- The amount of notice a landlord is required to give differs according to the grounds they are citing on the Section 8 form. Ground 2 for example, requires a minimum of 2 months’ notice but grounds 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 only require 2 weeks’ notice.
What happens after the Section 8 Notice has been served?
- All Section 8 forms must clearly state the date on which the notice expires. This is the date that the tenant has to have paid their rent arrears by, or have vacated the property by, and in nearly 80% of cases the tenant leaves or pays before this date arrives.
- If the tenant refuses, the landlord can start court possession proceedings on the day following the date cited on the Section 8 form.
- To do this the landlord has to acquire forms N5 and N119 from their local county court and pay the appropriate court fee. This then starts the process of gaining a possession order.
Will a Section 8 guarantee that a possession order will be granted?
- In simple terms, NO!.
The likelihood of being granted a possession order is dependent on the Grounds cited on the Section 8 form, and as mentioned earlier some grounds are mandatory while others are discretionary. - Grounds 2 and 8 are always granted the order but the circumstances surrounding the other grounds are carefully considered by the court before a decision is made.
- The evidence of the landlord and any evidence submitted by the tenant is looked at closely and factors such as hardship and extenuating circumstances suffered by the tenant are taken into consideration.
- If a possession order is granted it normally takes effect within 14 days, but in cases of true hardship on the part of the tenant this can sometime be extended to six weeks.
Can I evict the tenants as soon as I am granted an eviction?
The simple answer is no, you will be required to wait 7 days, then you will need to apply for an enforcement order, then you need to instruct Bailiffs, which will not be an easy task as the waiting time in some areas can be months. What you can do to speed up the process is to tick ‘Transfer case to the High Court’ then you will be able to instruct a High Court Sherriff and nobody argues with them, but more importantly, they will probably conduct the eviction within days, although it may cost you over £1,000 more, that may be worth it, to save you months of lost rent along with all the distress that the waiting will cause you.