Evicting tenants in England
Giving notice to evict tenants
To evict your tenant, you must give them notice. If you do not follow the correct procedure, you may be guilty of harassing or illegally evicting your tenant.
Before you give notice
You can try to resolve any disputes with your tenant before you try to evict them. You can get information about:
- working with your tenant to manage rent arrears from the National Residential Landlords Association
- agreeing on a rent repayment plan from Citizens Advice
If your tenant owes rent and gets housing benefits
If your tenant owes you rent and claims Universal Credit or Housing Benefit you may be able get the rent paid straight to you instead of evicting them. This is known as ‘managed payments’.
Request managed payments if your tenant is claiming:
- Universal Credit - apply to the Department for Work and Pensions
- Housing Benefit - contact the local council that pays your tenant’s benefits
How to give notice
You can evict tenants who have an assured periodic tenancy using a section 8 notice.
You must fill in form 3A of the assured tenancy forms. You can get legal advice on how to use a section 8 and how to give it to your tenant.
You will need to give your tenant the correct notice period. You’ll also need to explain what reasons (known as ‘grounds’) you’re using to evict them. You can include evidence, for example bank statements which show that your tenant has not paid rent.
Grounds for possession
Some of the reasons you can use a section 8 notice to evict tenants include:
- your tenant has not paid or owes you rent (rent arrears)
- your tenant has committed antisocial behaviour
- you or your close family need to move into the property
- you intend to sell the property
Read the grounds for possession guidance which lists all the grounds and notice periods you’ll need to give your tenant.
You cannot evict your tenant in the first 12 months of the tenancy if it’s because you need to move in or sell your property.
The grounds you use will affect the decisions a judge can make if your tenant does not leave and you apply for a possession order.
Grounds are either ‘discretionary’ or ‘mandatory’.
Discretionary grounds
A ‘discretionary ground’ means you need to prove it and the court then decides if it is reasonable to evict your tenant. For example, your tenant has broken the tenancy agreement.
Mandatory grounds
A ‘mandatory ground’ means if your evidence proves the ground is met, the court must give you a possession order. For example, you are selling the property.
After you give notice
Keep proof that you gave notice to your tenant. You can either:
- fill in the certification of service form (N215)
- write “served by [your name] on [the date]” on the notice
If your tenant does not leave by the specified date, you will be able to rely on your completed N215 or notice when you apply for a possession order. How long you have to apply to court to evict your tenant depends on how much notice you gave.
How long the notice period should be
The notice period depends on the ground being used.
The notice period will usually be 4 months if your tenant has not done anything wrong. It may be 2 months in some specialist cases.
The notice period may be shorter if your tenant is at fault, for example, they owe you rent.
Your tenant does not have to leave during the notice period.
If your tenant does not leave by the date in the notice
You’ll need to start court proceedings to apply for a possession order.
If you gave your tenant a section 8 notice on or after 1 May 2026, you’ll usually have up to 12 months to apply to the court to evict them.
If you asked your tenant for a deposit
The court will only give you a possession order to evict your tenant if you can show that one of the following things have happened:
- you returned the deposit to your tenant, in full or with any deductions that you agreed with them
- your tenant challenged you through the court on whether the deposit protection requirements were met, and the case has been decided, settled or withdrawn
- you still have the deposit and it’s in a government-approved scheme
If you still have the deposit by the possession hearing, you will need to prove to the court that:
- it’s protected in a government-approved scheme
- you’re following the scheme’s rules
- you have given your tenant the required information about the scheme, known as ‘prescribed information ’
These rules do not apply to grounds 7A or 14 for antisocial behaviour.
If you gave your tenant notice before 1 May 2026
If your tenant does not leave by the date in the notice, the rules about starting court proceedings depend on whether you gave your tenant a:
- section 8 notice
- section 21 notice
If you gave your tenant a section 8 notice
You will usually only be able to use the notice to start court proceedings for up to 12 months after the date you gave it to your tenant or until 31 July 2026, whichever is sooner.
If you gave your tenant a section 21 notice
You will usually only be able to use the notice to start court proceedings for up to 6 months after you gave it to your tenant or until 31 July 2026, whichever is sooner.
After 31 July 2026 you will not usually be able to use a section 21 notice to start an eviction process. This will apply even if you gave your tenant notice less than 6 months ago.
You will be able to get legal advice on how long you’ll have to use the section 21 notice to start court proceedings.
If you do not apply to the court in time, the section 21 notice will become invalid and the tenancy will be an assured periodic tenancy. You will need to serve your tenant with a new section 8 notice to evict them and apply for a possession order.
Tenants can get free advice from the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service.