Ground 7B applies in England where the Home Office has given the landlord a written notice naming the tenant, or an adult occupier, as disqualified from occupying the home because of their immigration status, and that person is in fact disqualified. It is mandatory, with two weeks' notice. Without the Home Office notice the ground is not available.
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 | Two weeks beginning with the date of service | s.8(4AA) | 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 | No order while the deposit is unprotected or the prescribed information not given | 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 7B needs both conditions:
A person the Home Office has given permission to occupy under an assured tenancy is treated as having a right to rent. British and Irish citizens, and people with leave under the EU residence scheme, are relevant nationals. The ground applies to dwellings in England.
Ground 7B 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.
The table in section 8(4AA) of the Housing Act 1988 gives Ground 7B a minimum of two weeks beginning with the date of service of the notice. Where the notice cites several grounds, the longest period among them applies, unless the notice also cites Ground 7A or 14, when the date may be the day of service (s.8(4)).
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 7B (s.8(5)). A notice that is defective, or served short, means serving again.
Possession claims are decided on documents. For Ground 7B 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. Section 215 of the Housing Act 2004, as substituted from 1 May 2026, means the court may not make a possession order on Ground 7B while the deposit is not held in an authorised scheme with its initial requirements met and the prescribed information given. Only Grounds 7A and 14 are exempt. The test is applied when the order is made: protecting the deposit and giving the prescribed information, even late, lifts the bar (s.215(2), "whether or not within the period"), as does returning it in full or with agreed deductions, or a section 214 claim being determined, withdrawn or settled (s.215(5)). The tenant's claim for one to three times the deposit under section 214 remains.
The PRS Database bar, not yet in force. Section 90 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 will add section 7(5ZC) to the 1988 Act: no possession order on Ground 7B while the landlord is in breach of the duty to be registered on the Private Rented Sector Database. On 15 October 2026 the registration duty was not in force and the database regulations were a draft, so this bars nothing today; registration opens region by region from 15 December 2026.
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).
Landlords sometimes serve Ground 7B on the strength of their own view that a tenant's permission has expired. That is not the ground. It needs the Home Office's notice, and the court cannot dispense with the Section 8 notice on Ground 7B (s.8(5)). Where the Home Office notices, taken together, identify every occupier, section 33D of the Immigration Act 2014 lets the landlord end the agreement by at least 28 days' notice in the prescribed form, enforceable as if it were a High Court order; where they name only some occupiers, Ground 7B is the court route. The same facts can also found a civil penalty under section 23 of the 2014 Act where no Right to Rent check was made, which is why the check records matter.
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 |
Not on Ground 7B unless the Home Office has given you a written notice naming that person as disqualified. The ground turns on the notice, not on the landlord's own assessment.
Two weeks from service under section 8(4AA) of the Housing Act 1988, and the court cannot dispense with the notice.
Yes. If the Home Office notice exists and the person is disqualified, the court must order possession, subject to the deposit bar.
When a compliance question becomes a court or tribunal matter, BundleCreator.co, from the same company, turns the records into a court-ready bundle. From the notice to the order, stage by stage. Start with the possession and arrears journey.
Short videos from BundleCreator (play loads the youtube-nocookie.com player):
Before serving on any ground, see which statutory gaps would stop a possession order: the deposit, and, once section 7(5ZC) is in force, the register. The check runs in your browser and stores nothing; the app then holds the notice dates and the evidence for each property.
Free exposure checkFrom the ComplyWithMe news feed: enforcement decisions and legislation changes, each linked to its official source.
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