Section 8 notice dates, by ground.
Find the earliest date you can apply to court after giving your tenant a Form 3A notice, for each possession ground.
This is information, not legal advice. Possession decisions can need a solicitor, so take advice before you rely on a ground.
Choose the grounds and the dates to see when you could apply to court.
How this is worked out
We use the same code that fills in Form 3A in Lettance. Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 sets a minimum notice period for each ground, beginning with the day you give the notice:
- 4 months: Grounds 1, 1A and 2
- 2 weeks: Grounds 7B, 12, 13, 14ZA, 15 and 17
- 4 weeks: Grounds 8, 10 and 11
- No notice period: Ground 14. With it in the notice, you can apply to court from the day you give it.
Grounds 1 and 1A also need the tenancy to have begun at least a year before the court date, counting both days. With more than one ground, the earliest court date is the latest of their dates. Court proceedings must start within 12 months of giving the notice.
Where a month has no matching day, we choose the later date. This tool covers the grounds Lettance can fill in on Form 3A; for any other ground, take advice.
- Seek possession only by a section 8 notice on Form 3A with the correct notice period
To end a tenancy you need a statutory ground, a section 8 notice on the current Form 3A giving at least the minimum notice for each ground, and then a court order. Court proceedings must start within 12 months of serving the notice.
- Grounds 1 and 1A (move in or sell): not in the first 12 months, 4 months' notice
You can recover possession to live in the property (or house close family) or to sell it, but the date in the notice must be at least a year after the tenancy began and you must give 4 months' notice.
- Do not re-let or re-market for 12 months after using Ground 1 or 1A
After serving notice (or claiming) on Ground 1 or 1A, you cannot let the property, license it for money, or advertise it to let until 12 months after the earliest court date in the notice.
- Ground 8 mandatory rent arrears: 3 months or 13 weeks at notice and at hearing
The mandatory rent arrears ground needs at least 3 months' rent (monthly) or 13 weeks' rent (weekly or fortnightly) owing both when the notice is served and at the hearing, with 4 weeks' notice.
- Anti-social behaviour: Grounds 7A and 14 allow immediate court proceedings
For serious anti-social or criminal behaviour you can use mandatory Ground 7A or discretionary Ground 14 and apply to court as soon as the notice is served.
- Offence: knowingly or recklessly using a possession ground that cannot succeed
If you rely on a possession ground knowing it would not succeed, or reckless as to that, and the tenant leaves within 4 months without a court order, you commit an offence.