Ground 8 is the mandatory rent-arrears ground in England. Since 1 May 2026 the tenant must owe at least three months' rent (thirteen weeks if rent is weekly or fortnightly) both when the Section 8 notice is served and at the hearing. Four weeks' notice. Arrears caused only by a Universal Credit housing payment not yet received are ignored.
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 | Four 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 8 is met if, both at the date the Section 8 notice is served and at the date of the hearing:
Before 1 May 2026 the thresholds were eight weeks and two months; the Renters' Rights Act 2025 raised them and removed the separate quarterly and yearly limbs. "Rent" means rent lawfully due. When counting what is unpaid, any amount unpaid only because the tenant has not yet received the housing element of a Universal Credit award is ignored. The ground applies to assured tenancies in England.
Ground 8 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 8 a minimum of four 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 8 (s.8(5)). A notice that is defective, or served short, means serving again.
Possession claims are decided on documents. For Ground 8 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 8 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 8 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).
Ground 8 fails on arithmetic more than on law. If the tenant pays enough before the hearing to bring the arrears below three months, the mandatory ground is gone, which is why Grounds 10 and 11 are pleaded with it. A disrepair counterclaim can do the same: damages for breach of section 11 or section 9A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 are set off against the rent account. The court cannot dispense with the notice on Ground 8 (s.8(5)), so a defective Form 3A means starting again. And because the ground is mandatory, a judge cannot suspend the order on terms; if it is proved, possession follows, with postponement limited to fourteen days, or six weeks for exceptional hardship, under Housing Act 1980 s.89.
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 |
At least three months' rent where rent is paid monthly, or thirteen weeks where it is paid weekly or fortnightly, both when the notice is served and at the hearing. The thresholds rose from two months and eight weeks on 1 May 2026.
If the arrears fall below the threshold at the hearing, Ground 8 fails. Grounds 10 and 11 can still succeed, but they are discretionary, so the court must also find possession reasonable.
Rent unpaid only because the tenant has not yet received the housing element of a Universal Credit award is ignored when counting the arrears.
Four weeks from service under section 8(4AA) of the Housing Act 1988, and the court cannot dispense with the notice on this ground.
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