Section 8 Notices – The New Rules

Since the 1^st May 2026, if you wish to evict your tenant, the only option available to you is a Section 8 Notice.

The grounds for possession under a Section 8 Notice have now been changed in that you are required to give the tenant longer notice to vacate the property than previously. But you do need a reason to obtain possession. The Government have amended the old fault grounds for possession and introduced new ones which are available for you to look at on the Government website.

Please note that whilst the old rules for a Section 8 Notice did not require the compliance documents to be in place at the time the Section 8 Notice was given to the tenant, the Government have not released any information as to whether this is still the case now that the new rules have been introduced. To be on the safe side, we do recommend that you still comply with the compliance documents being in place given that it is still a legal requirement for you to have this carried out.

With the Section 8 Notices being the only available route to you for evicting tenants, this means that you are no longer able to issue court proceedings under the accelerated procedure and therefore you have no option but to attend a court hearing for possession.

For a Section 8 Notice to be valid you must ensure that you:-

• List the ground(s) for possession
• Provide reasons as to why you are using the ground(s)
• Give the tenant the correct notice period
• Use the correct legal wording for the ground(s) that you are using

If you do not, then your Section 8 Notice could be deemed as invalid.

Whilst there are mandatory grounds that the Courts, if you can prove the ground, will give you a possession order on, there is still discretionary grounds where it is the Courts decision if it is reasonable enough to give you a possession order. Therefore if you do serve a Section 8 Notice using a discretionary ground then you would need to provide as much information and evidence as you can to support the ground in a court hearing.

How can our Dispute Resolution team help?

In light of the complexity we would recommend seeking legal advice before serving any notice on your tenant. If you have any queries and wish to discuss this then please do not hesitate to contact us on 01302 965250, alternatively, you can fill out our online enquiry form.