Serving Section 8 Notice

SOME BACKGROUND

As of 1 May 2026, new section 21 notices have now been abolished in the private rented sector. The main route is now a section 8 notice. This notice will allow you to obtain a possession order and a County Court Judgment for any rent arrears (if there are any). The required notice period can be as little as two weeks, and after it has expired you can issue a claim.

A section 8 notice is a fault based notice. You are the landlord, the tenant is the tenant but you are saying that you are entitled to possession of the property because one or more statutory grounds applies. Usually this type of notice will be issued because the tenant hasn’t paid rent, but other grounds can also be relied on.

As you are relying on a statutory ground for possession, there will usually be at least one hearing, and because of the type of claim, the tenant is also allowed to pursue a counterclaim. Counterclaims can include claims (against the landlord) for any deposit issues or alleged disrepair in the property. This can all significantly delay a landlord’s ability to obtain a possession order and if allegations are made at the first hearing it is likely an adjournment will be ordered to a later date. That means lost time and money. Sometimes however a landlord will have no choice but to consider a section 8 notice – for example if no rent has been paid and possession is needed before any other ground is available. 

If there are rent arrears, the rent arrears grounds have changed under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. The court can make a possession order if the relevant arrears ground is made out. For the mandatory serious rent arrears ground, the arrears threshold is now three months’ rent, and the arrears must meet the statutory test both when the notice served and at the date of the hearing. If the tenant makes a payment which brings the arrears below the required threshold, then the mandatory ground may not be made out, although the landlord may still be able to rely on discretionary rent arrears or other grounds depending on the facts. 

THE SECTION 8 EVICTION SERVICE

STEP 1; THE NOTICE

To go ahead email the tenancy agreement, Deposit prescribed information and terms and conditions, EPC and How to Rent Booklet and confirmation of the rent arrears or what the tenant has done wrong to us at [email protected] and our solicitors specialising in section 8 notices will confirm next steps.

STEP 2; THE CLAIM

Our fixed fee includes drafting and issuing the claim. To go ahead email the tenancy agreement, Deposit prescribed information and terms and conditions, EPC, How to Rent Booklet and section 8 notice to us at [email protected] and we will confirm the next steps.

Issuing a claim based on an incorrect or invalid section 8 notice can result in you being ordered to pay the tenants legal costs as well as your own. If the section 8 notice is not valid it is not in your interests to issue a claim relying on that notice and is better to review whether the notice is valid first. If you are unsure whether you are entitled or have served a valid section 8 notice. To go ahead email your details to [email protected] and we will contact you.

STEP 3; THE HEARING

With a section 8 notice and possession claim the starting point is that there will be at least one hearing. We will draft and file and serve a witness statement on your behalf confirming the rent arrears. We will also arrange for an advocate to attend the hearing on your behalf. If you need more information regarding the eviction process and how it works, read our eviction guide available here.

STEP 4; THE BAILIFFS

Our fixed fee includes our drafting and submitting application to apply to the court for a bailiffs appointment, if needed. There is a court fee which is currently £148.