Ground 7A is the mandatory anti-social behaviour ground in England. One of five conditions must be met: a serious-offence conviction, a proven breach of an anti-social behaviour injunction, a conviction for breaching a criminal behaviour order, a closure order over 48 hours, or a noise abatement conviction. No minimum notice, but strict serving time limits.
By Stevie Hayes · Updated 15 October 2026 · Figures checked against legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK on 15 October 2026 · How we verify · Statutory penalties are maximums; councils and courts decide the amount.
| Fact | Position | Since / status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Mandatory: the court must order possession if the ground is proved | Housing Act 1988 s.7 (orders for possession: mandatory and discretionary grounds) | |
| Minimum notice | No minimum: the date in the notice may be the day of service | s.8(4) | Housing Act 1988 s.8 (notice of proceedings; s.8(4AA) notice-period table; s.8(3)(c) 12-month validity; s.8(5)) |
| Notice validity | Twelve months from service; Form 3A | Housing Act 1988 s.8 (notice of proceedings; s.8(4AA) notice-period table; s.8(3)(c) 12-month validity; s.8(5)) | |
| Deposit bar | Does not apply to this ground | 1 May 2026 | Housing Act 2004 s.215 (deposit bar on possession, as substituted from 1 May 2026) |
| Court's discretion | Postponement limited to 14 days, or six weeks for exceptional hardship | Housing Act 1980 s.89 (14-day and six-week limits on postponing possession) | |
| Misusing the ground | Offence where the tenant surrenders within four months; council penalty up to £40,000 | 1 May 2026 | Housing Act 1988 s.16K (penalty up to £40,000 as an alternative to prosecution) |
| Text of the ground | Housing Act 1988 Schedule 2, as amended from 1 May 2026 | Checked 15 October 2026 | Housing Act 1988 Schedule 2 (grounds for possession) |
Ground 7A is met if any one of five conditions applies to the tenant, or a person residing in or visiting the dwelling:
A condition is not met while an appeal is pending, or if the appeal overturns the conviction, finding or order. The ground applies to assured tenancies in England.
Ground 7A is in Part 1 of Schedule 2, so it is mandatory: under section 7(3) of the Housing Act 1988, if the court is satisfied the ground is made out it must make the order. It does not ask whether possession is reasonable, and it cannot suspend the order on terms. What it can do is limited by Housing Act 1980 s.89: possession may be postponed by up to fourteen days, or up to six weeks where giving up possession by then would cause exceptional hardship.
Grounds 7A and 14 are outside the table in section 8(4AA). Under section 8(4) the earliest-proceedings date in a notice citing Ground 7A may be the day of service, so the claim can be issued at once. For Ground 7A, Housing Act 1980 s.89 limits any postponement of possession to fourteen days, or six weeks for exceptional hardship.
The notice is Form 3A, the prescribed form listed on GOV.UK's assured tenancy forms page. It must state the ground and its particulars (s.8(2)), give an earliest-proceedings date no sooner than the period above, and is valid for twelve months from service (s.8(3)(c)); proceedings begun after that need a fresh notice. Keep a certificate of service, because the notice period and, on the rent grounds, the arrears are both measured from the day of service.
The court cannot dispense with the notice on Ground 7A (s.8(5)). A notice that is defective, or served short, means serving again.
Possession claims are decided on documents. For Ground 7A a judge will expect to see:
Claims are issued under CPR Part 55 using form N5 with the particulars on N119; the court fixes a hearing and there is no judgment in default (GOV.UK: evicting tenants).
The deposit bar does not apply to Ground 7A. Section 215 of the Housing Act 2004 excludes Grounds 7A and 14 from the rule that stops a court making a possession order while a deposit is unprotected, and section 7(5ZC), which is not yet in force (the PRS Database regulations are still a draft), will exclude them from the register bar as well.
Using a ground you cannot prove. Under section 16J of the Housing Act 1988 it is an offence to serve a notice relying on a ground, or to make a claim on it, knowing, or reckless as to whether, the landlord could not obtain a possession order on it, if the tenant then surrenders the tenancy within four months beginning with the date the ground was relied on, without a possession order (s.16J(1)). The council may impose a penalty of up to £40,000 as an alternative to prosecution (s.16K).
The time limits are the trap. Under section 8(4D) to (4F) the notice must be served within twelve months of the conviction (conditions 1, 3 and 5) or of the court's finding (condition 2), or within three months of a closure order (condition 4), each running instead from the end of any appeal. Miss it and the ground is unavailable however serious the conduct. There is no minimum notice period, and the date in the notice may be the day of service (s.8(4)), but the court cannot dispense with the notice itself (s.8(5)). The deposit bar does not apply to Ground 7A, and nor will the PRS Database bar.
Government changes that bear on this duty. Where the status says in force the rule already applies; everything else is not yet law for private landlords. Dates are quoted as the government has published them, checked on 15 October 2026.
| Change | Status today | Published timing | Sensible preparation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mandatory landlord and property registration on the Private Rented Sector Database (the landlord register), with an annual fee | regulations in draft | Regional rollout from 15 December 2026 (West Midlands first) to 15 September 2027 for all other purposes, per the draft Private Rented Sector Database Regulations 2026 | Keep copies, not just dates, of the gas safety record, EICR and EPC for each property, and know whether a licence applies; those are what the draft regulations say the entry needs. Source |
A conviction for a serious offence connected to the dwelling or its locality; a proven breach of an anti-social behaviour injunction; a conviction for breaching a criminal behaviour order; a closure order with access prohibited for more than 48 hours; or a conviction for breaching a noise abatement notice or order.
Twelve months from the conviction or the court's finding for conditions 1, 2, 3 and 5, and three months from the closure order for condition 4, in each case running from the end of any appeal instead.
No. Section 215 of the Housing Act 2004 excludes Grounds 7A and 14 from the bar on possession orders where a deposit is unprotected.
Yes. If a condition is proved and the notice was served in time, the court must order possession; it cannot suspend the order on terms.
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