Grounds for possession
Last updated 25 March 2022 - reversion to pre-covid notice periods in Wales as well as England
Introduction
Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 creates a number of grounds under which a landlord may successfully apply to court for possession using a Section 8 notice.
These grounds for possession apply to all assured or assured shorthold tenancies entered into after 15 January 1989. The terms of your tenancy agreement must make provision for termination on these grounds and the ground needs to be written in full on the Section 8 Notice.
This document is designed to provide a summary of each ground, explaining when they should be used and what each ground means. These summaries are not to be inserted into the Section 8 Notice itself.
The full text of the grounds should be inserted in full into your Section 8 notice and can be found in full in the legislation.
Renters’ Rights Bill
The Renters' Rights Bill is expected to come into force in summer 2025, making the most significant changes to the private rented sector in over 30 years.
Amongst other things, the Bill will -
• Abolish Section 21;
• Change the type of tenancy you can offer;
• Introduce a new Decent Homes Standard to the PRS;
• Change advertising practices; and
• Significantly strengthen local authority enforcement powers.
The advice and resources on this page will be outdated once the Bill comes into force. The NRLA is currently preparing a suite of replacement guides and documents to help you manage the transition smoothly.
For further information on the passage of the Bill and its details, please see our dedicated campaigns hub
Will I always get possession if I can prove the existence of a ground for possession?
It depends on which ground is being relied upon.
The grounds for possession are split into mandatory or discretionary grounds. For mandatory grounds (1-8), a judge must order possession if the landlord can prove the existence of the ground. For discretionary grounds (9-17), the judge will decide whether or not the circumstances justify a possession order.
Is there a limit on how many grounds I can use?
No, as long as you have evidence of the ground then you should insert it on the Section 8 notice.