The Section 8 Notice
The main reason or “ground” for landlords issuing a Section 8 Notice is rent arrears. However, any breaches of the terms of the tenancy agreement can also precipitate possession proceedings, and other grounds such as damage to the property and nuisance to neighbours or having previously lived in the property can be used. There are 17 Grounds (reasons) why a landlord may issue a Section 8 Notice.
What You Need To Know
A Notice of Possession is required before evicting a tenant or possession of a property can be obtained. The precise notice which can be used depends on many things, such as how the tenancy was set up, whether the tenancy is still within the fixed term period and many other reasons. The Section 8 is the notice a landlord must issue if they want to bring to an end a fixed term tenancy during the fixed term period. Notice periods depend on the Ground being selected, Ground 8 which relates Rent Arrears has a Notice period of 2 weeks, whilst Ground 1, which relates to the landlord having previously lived in the property, has a notice period of 2 months.
Unlike a Section 21 Notice, where the landlord does not need to give a reason for wanting possession of their property, the landlord must have a reason or reasons for issuing a Section 8 Notice. If your reasons do not match one of the 17 “Grounds” then you cannot issue a Section 8 Notice.
- The Landlord must give a reason why they wish to gain possession of their property
- If the landlords reason cannot match one of the 17 Grounds (reasons) then the landlord cannot issue a Section 8 Notice
Despite the fact that tenant may have breached the terms of the tenancy, (for example by missing on delaying their rent), many landlords and letting agents prefer to issue a Section 21 Notice for gaining possession of their property rather than issuing a Section 8 Notice. However, a Section 21 cannot be issued to bring to an end a fixed term tenancy during the term of the fixed term, in other words, you cannot end a tenancy early using a Section 21 where you can by using a Section 8 Notice.
- Section 8 – An official notice which must be completed correctly and provide the tenant with reasons why the landlord wants possession.
- Can be issued to bring to an end a fixed term tenancy during the fixed term of the tenancy.
You can issue a Section 8 Notice any time during the fixed term tenancy, and even into a periodic tenancy. The length of the notice period depends on the specific reason you have requested possession for. Unlike the Section 21 Notice, a Section 8 Notice can be issued even if the landlord hasn’t complied with the terms of the tenancy deposit scheme or terms of the De-Regulation Act.
- You can issue a Section 8 Notice if you haven’t complied with certain rules of the tenancy (Deregulation Act 2015)
- You can issue a Section 8 Notice is you haven’t placed a tenancy deposit into a recognised tenancy deposit scheme.
- Can bring a fixed term tenancy to an end at any point during the fixed term.
- A landlord can include a claim for rent arrears in the Section 8 Claim, this cannot be done with a Section 21 Notice.
- A landlord must give a minimum of 2 weeks notice to the tenant depending on the Ground being relied on.
- If there are any rent arrears, you can include the rent arrears in the claim form when using a Section 8 Notice
Using our On line Notice System to create a possession notice is quick, inexpensive and gives you over control the eviction process.
- On Line Section 8 Notice for creating legally compliant tenancy termination notices
- The system will date the notice so that it is ready to serve and will advise you when to serve it
Our On Line System
- Instantly create compliant Section 8 Notices – On Line !
- Use our Intelligent software to assess the tenancy for compliance
- Use the system to correctly date the notice ready for serving on the tenant
- Comes with comprehensive notes on how and when to serve the notice
Our Legal Referral System
- For landlords who do not wish to be directly involved in the possession process
- For tenancies which are not compliant
- If you took a deposit but did not pay it into a scheme, use our Legal Referral System
- If you don’t have a written tenancy, use the Legal Referral System