Which Section 8 Ground Should I Use After May 2026? A Landlord's Decision Guide to the Post-Renters'-Rights Grounds

Last reviewed: 14 May 2026 — England and Wales

General information only. This article describes the law in England and Wales as at the date shown above. It is not legal advice and is not a substitute for advice on your case. For free regulated advice, contact a Law Centre, Citizens Advice, Shelter England, or the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service available at every County Court.

Quick Answer

From 1 May 2026, every possession claim in the private rented sector in England runs through Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 on the new prescribed Form 3A. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 added four new grounds (1A, 1B, 6A and 14A), kept the seventeen pre-existing grounds, and changed the notice periods for most of them. The choice between grounds is now a strategic decision, not a default reach for Ground 8 or Section 21. This guide walks through the grounds in plain terms, identifies the mandatory ones (where the court must order possession), and flags the conditions that trap landlords who pick the wrong route.

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Why the Choice of Ground Matters Now

Before 1 May 2026, a landlord with an assured shorthold tenancy could fall back on Section 21 — the "no-fault" notice — whenever a stated ground felt awkward. That option has gone. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 abolished Section 21 in England and converted every assured shorthold into an assured periodic tenancy. Every possession route now requires a specific statutory ground.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (formerly the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) made the policy reasoning plain when the Bill was first published: "Renters should not be evicted without reason." The practical consequence is that a landlord has to pick the right ground first time. Picking the wrong one — or the right ground on wrong evidence — does not just delay the claim. It can void the Form 3A entirely, costing the four-week notice period and the court fee, and exposing the landlord to a Rent Repayment Order under Section 16 RRA 2025 if the property is re-let after a "false intent" ground.

Section 8 grounds split into two families:

• Mandatory grounds — if the conditions in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 are made out, the court must order possession. There is no discretion.
• Discretionary grounds — the court can order possession only if it is also satisfied that it is reasonable to do so. The reasonableness inquiry is broad and the tenant's circumstances matter.

The new grounds and the changed notice periods sit on top of this old mandatory-versus-discretionary structure. The legislation is available at legislation.gov.uk and the Renters' Rights Act 2025 amendments are at legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/00.

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The Twelve Grounds Landlords Actually Use

There are twenty-one grounds in Schedule 2 (seventeen original Housing Act 1988 grounds plus the four new grounds inserted by the Renters' Rights Act 2025 — 1A, 1B, 6A and 14A). In practice, residential landlords use about twelve. Here is the working set.

Ground 1 — Landlord requires the property as their own or a family member's home (mandatory)

The original Ground 1 survives, with a tightened evidential standard. The landlord must have given notice at the start of the tenancy that they might recover the property under this ground, or persuade the court that it is just and equitable to dispense with that requirement. The four-month notice period now applies, replacing the old two-month rule.

Ground 1 is the typical route where the landlord or a close family member genuinely intends to move in and live there as their only or principal home. The "close family member" definition is set out in Schedule 2 — it covers spouses, civil partners, cohabitants, parents, grandparents, siblings, children and grandchildren.

Pitfall: re-letting within twelve months of recovery triggers a Section 16 RRA 2025 penalty. The Rent Repayment Order can be up to twelve months' rent.

Ground 1A — Landlord intends to sell (mandatory, new in 2026)

Inserted by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. The landlord must intend to sell the property within twelve months of recovery and must be able to evidence the intention — typically a marketing instruction to an estate agent or a Land Registry application to remove a restriction.

The twelve-month re-letting lockout is the same as Ground 1. If the property is re-let, advertised for re-letting, or used as a holiday let within twelve months of recovery, the former tenant can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a Rent Repayment Order under Section 16 RRA 2025.

Pitfall: a vague or contingent intention to sell does not satisfy the ground. The Property Tribunal has already heard early cases on the evidence threshold, and the practitioner consensus is that an estate agency contract or a draft sale memorandum is the minimum required.

Ground 1B — Family-member occupation through inheritance (mandatory, new in 2026)

Specifically for landlords who have recently inherited the property and need it for their own family. Four months' notice. The same twelve-month re-letting lockout applies.

Ground 6 — Demolition or substantial works (mandatory)

The landlord intends to demolish or substantially redevelop the property and cannot do so with the tenant in occupation. The landlord must offer reasonable terms for the tenant's removal. Four months' notice.

This ground sees more use after 1 May 2026 because landlords who would have used Section 21 to vacate a property for refurbishment can no longer do so. The works must be genuinely incompatible with continued occupation — cosmetic redecoration is not enough.

Ground 6A — Compliance with enforcement action (mandatory, new in 2026)

Where the landlord needs vacant possession to comply with a local authority enforcement notice (for example, an improvement notice under Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004 or a prohibition order under Section 20 of that Act), Ground 6A is available. Four months' notice.

Ground 7A — Anti-social behaviour with conviction or breach of injunction (mandatory)

This ground sat unloved on the statute book between 2014 and the late 2020s. After the RRA 2025 abolished Section 21, social and private landlords are increasingly turning to it. The conditions are strict: a relevant conviction, a finding that an injunction has been breached, or a noise nuisance closure notice, all set out in Section 84A of the Housing Act 1985 (incorporated by reference).

Fourteen days' notice. The tenant can be in arrears or up to date — the ground does not depend on rent.

Ground 8 — Rent arrears (mandatory)

The classic mandatory ground. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 raised the threshold from two months to three months (or 13 weeks for weekly or fortnightly tenancies) and extended the notice period from two weeks to four. The arrears must subsist on the date of the notice AND the date of the hearing. North British Housing Association Ltd v Matthews [2004] EWCA Civ 1736 limits the use of adjournments to allow the tenant to pay down.

See our Ground 8 13-weeks rule guide for the full doctrine.

Grounds 10 and 11 — Some arrears and persistent late payment (discretionary)

Most landlords pleading Ground 8 should also plead Grounds 10 and 11. Ground 10 covers some arrears at notice and hearing. Ground 11 covers persistent late payment whether or not arrears exist at the hearing. Both are discretionary, which means the court can suspend any order or refuse possession outright on reasonableness grounds. The framework for suspension comes from Sheffield City Council v Hopkins [2001] EWCA Civ 1023 and Manchester City Council v Higgins [2005] EWCA Civ 1423.

Ground 12 — Breach of an obligation other than rent (discretionary)

Pets clauses, smoking clauses, alteration clauses. Reasonableness is everything. London Borough of Lambeth v Howard [2001] EWCA Civ 468 is the working benchmark for nuisance-adjacent breaches.

Ground 13 — Deterioration of the property (discretionary)

Where the tenant or someone living with them has caused the condition of the property to deteriorate through neglect or default. Discretionary.

Ground 14 — Anti-social behaviour (discretionary)

The bread-and-butter anti-social behaviour ground. No fixed notice period — proceedings can issue on the same day as the notice. Discretionary, with the reasonableness test heavily fact-sensitive. The Civil Procedure Rules support an expedited listing where there is real risk of serious harm.

Ground 14A — Domestic abuse perpetrator (mandatory, new in 2026)

Inserted by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Where one joint tenant is the victim of domestic abuse from another joint tenant or a member of their household, and the perpetrator has left or is being excluded, the landlord can recover possession against the perpetrator on Ground 14A to allow the victim to remain. Two weeks' notice.

The ground is paired with the new Section 8A regime that allows the victim-tenant to apply directly to the court for a transfer of the tenancy, with the perpetrator removed.

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The Decision Tree

This summary describes the procedural choices practitioners commonly make in different factual situations. It is a generic flow-chart based on the published grounds in Schedule 2 — not a recommendation for any particular case. The right ground in any case depends on facts specific to that case, which only a regulated adviser can assess for you.

START: Why does the landlord want the property back?

├─ Landlord or family member wants to live there
│  ├─ At the start of the tenancy: did you give written notice
│  │  that you might recover under Ground 1?
│  │  ├─ YES → Ground 1 (4 mo notice, mandatory, 12-mo re-let lockout)
│  │  └─ NO  → Ground 1 with dispensation, or Ground 12/13/14/8/10/11
│  │           if the facts fit another ground
│
├─ Landlord intends to sell
│  └─ Can you evidence the intent (estate agency instruction)?
│     ├─ YES → Ground 1A (4 mo notice, mandatory, 12-mo re-let lockout)
│     └─ NO  → cannot use Ground 1A; consider negotiating a surrender
│
├─ Landlord inherited and family member needs the property
│  └─ Ground 1B (4 mo notice, mandatory, 12-mo re-let lockout)
│
├─ Demolition or substantial works
│  └─ Ground 6 (4 mo notice, mandatory)
│
├─ Local-authority enforcement notice requires vacant possession
│  └─ Ground 6A (4 mo notice, mandatory)
│
├─ Rent arrears
│  ├─ 3 months / 13 weeks at notice AND hearing → Ground 8 (4 wk
│  │  notice, mandatory) PLUS Ground 10 PLUS Ground 11
│  ├─ Some arrears, less than threshold → Ground 10 + 11
│  │  (4 wk notice, discretionary)
│  └─ Persistent late payment, no arrears today → Ground 11
│
├─ Anti-social behaviour
│  ├─ Conviction or injunction breach → Ground 7A (14 d notice,
│  │  mandatory)
│  └─ Other ASB → Ground 14 (no minimum notice, discretionary)
│
├─ Domestic abuse perpetrator joint tenant → Ground 14A (2 wk
│  notice, mandatory)
│
└─ Other breach of tenancy → Ground 12 / 13 (4 wk notice,
   discretionary)

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The Notice-Period Table Every Landlord Should Pin Up

Notice periods are set by Section 8(4AA) of the Housing Act 1988, as amended by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. The Form 3A itself was prescribed by SI 2026/354.

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Three Common Strategic Mistakes

Pleading only one ground

Practitioners commonly plead Grounds 8, 10 and 11 together in arrears cases. The reasoning is that a tenant who pays down to defeat Ground 8 on the morning of the hearing still leaves Grounds 10 and 11 standing — and 10 and 11 can carry possession, even if only by way of a suspended order.

The same logic is applied to ASB cases: practitioners typically plead Ground 7A where the conditions are arguable AND Ground 14 in the alternative. If the Ground 7A conditions are not made out, the discretionary Ground 14 may still carry possession.

Choosing Ground 1 when the landlord cannot evidence intent

The new Section 16 RRA 2025 Rent Repayment Order regime is unforgiving. A landlord who recovers on Ground 1 and re-lets within twelve months pays. Several early First-tier Tribunal decisions in 2026 have ordered up to twelve months' rent back to the former tenant, on top of the lost rent during the void period.

Where the landlord's plan is uncertain — a possible move-in, a possible sale, a possible refurbishment — the published guidance from MHCLG and from practitioner texts is consistent that naming a ground with a twelve-month restriction is a significant commitment and merits careful thought before service.

Treating the deposit-protection gate as routine

For Grounds 1, 1A, 1B, 8, 10 and 11 (and most others), the court cannot order possession unless the deposit was protected in an authorised scheme and the prescribed information was served within the statutory time limits. Superstrike Ltd v Rodrigues [2013] EWCA Civ 669 and Charalambous v Ng [2014] EWCA Civ 1604 set out the gate as it applied under the old regime, and Section 215 of the Housing Act 2004 still bites. See our deposit-protection Section 8 gate guide for the rules in detail.

Grounds 7A and 14 escape the deposit-protection gate by virtue of Section 215(2A) of the Housing Act 2004 — but those are anti-social-behaviour grounds and they carry their own evidential burden.

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Which Ground If Both Sides Want a Negotiated Outcome?

A landlord who wants the property back quickly, and a tenant who is willing to leave on reasonable terms, often have more leverage by NOT issuing on the strongest mandatory ground.

A pleaded Ground 1 with a four-month notice plus an eight-month listing can mean a year between deciding to recover and getting possession. A negotiated surrender — a written agreement under which the tenant vacates by a stated date in return for a sum towards relocation — may be quicker, cheaper, and avoids the twelve-month re-letting lockout.

Surrenders are typically recorded in writing, witnessed, and drafted with a tenancy break clause or a Deed of Surrender. The Law Society's standard precedents are the working practitioner starting point.

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Authoritative Sources

• Housing Act 1988 — primary legislation, Schedule 2 grounds: legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50
• Renters' Rights Act 2025 — full Act including the new grounds: legislation.gov.uk
• SI 2026/354 — Form 3A and commencement order: legislation.gov.uk
• MHCLG guidance on the Renters' Rights Act 2025: gov.uk (retrieved 14 May 2026)
• Cornerstone Barristers — practitioner note on the new grounds: cornerstonebarristers.com (retrieved 14 May 2026)
• Garden Court Chambers housing team analysis: gardencourtchambers.co.uk (retrieved 14 May 2026)
• Case law: North British Housing Association Ltd v Matthews [2004] EWCA Civ 1736; Superstrike Ltd v Rodrigues [2013] EWCA Civ 669; Charalambous v Ng [2014] EWCA Civ 1604; Sheffield City Council v Hopkins [2001] EWCA Civ 1023; Manchester City Council v Higgins [2005] EWCA Civ 1423.

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BundleCreator's Housing Possession & Tenant Debt subsite at /housing-possession-debt maps the full procedural journey from Form 3A to enforcement. The possession bundle templates pre-load Section 8 witness statements, particulars of claim for Grounds 8, 10 and 11, and the new 1A intent-to-sell evidence schedule introduced by the Renters' Rights Act 2025.

Nothing in this article is legal advice or a substitute for it. The law described is England-and-Wales as at the date shown and may change. Tenants and landlords should consider seeking advice from a regulated solicitor, the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (free to any tenant served a Section 8 notice), Citizens Advice, Shelter England, or a local Law Centre.