Section 8 notice calculator

Section 21 has gone

From 1 May 2026 a landlord cannot use section 21 to end an assured tenancy in England, whatever the tenancy agreement says. Every former assured shorthold is now an assured periodic tenancy, and to get the property back you serve a section 8 notice, Form 3A, giving one or more grounds for possession. If the tenant does not leave, the court decides whether the ground is proved.

This guide covers England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules, so check the requirements for where your property is.

The grounds a private landlord uses most

Mandatory grounds mean the court must order possession if you prove them. Discretionary grounds mean it can, if it thinks it reasonable, and it can suspend the order on terms instead.

• Ground 1A, selling: mandatory, 4 months’ notice, and the notice cannot end in the first 12 months of the tenancy
• Ground 1, you or close family moving in: mandatory, 4 months’ notice, and not in the first 12 months either
• Ground 8, serious rent arrears: mandatory, 4 weeks’ notice, with at least 3 months’ rent (13 weeks’ if paid weekly or fortnightly) owed both when you serve and at the hearing
• Grounds 10 and 11, some arrears or persistent late payment: discretionary, 4 weeks’ notice
• Ground 12, breach of the tenancy, and grounds 13 and 15, damage: discretionary, 2 weeks’ notice
• Ground 14, antisocial behaviour: discretionary, and you can apply to court straight away
• Ground 7A, antisocial behaviour with a conviction or court order: mandatory, and you can apply straight away
• Grounds 5A and 5C, homes for farm workers and homes that came with a job: mandatory, 2 months’ notice

Using more than one ground

You can, and often should, put several grounds on one notice. For rent arrears it is usual to give grounds 8, 10 and 11 together, so if the tenant pays the arrears down below the ground 8 threshold before the hearing, the court can still consider the others. With several grounds you wait for the longest notice period before applying to court.

Selling or moving in: the 12 month rules

Grounds 1 and 1A protect tenants twice. The notice cannot end within the first 12 months of the tenancy, so a tenant who moves in today cannot be asked to leave for a sale for at least a year. And once you have served on either ground, you cannot let the home or advertise it to let until 12 months after the date the notice ends. The council can fine a landlord who does.

The calculator gives the earliest date you could let again, so if a sale falls through you know where you stand.

Before you serve

A notice with a mistake in it can be thrown out at the hearing, and you start again with a new notice period. Check these first.

• The deposit is protected and the prescribed information was given; otherwise the court will not order possession
• Every ground is named, with the facts that support it, on the current Form 3A
• The date in the notice is no earlier than the calculator shows
• You keep a copy and proof of how and when it was served
• You apply to court within 12 months of serving, or the notice lapses

Keeping the paperwork ready

Most possession claims are won or lost on the paperwork: the rent statement, the deposit certificate, the gas safety record, the letters to the tenant. TenantTool keeps all of it against each tenancy, so it is ready when a court asks for it.