Section 8 notice

Section 8 notice of the Housing Act 1988 is used to terminate the assured shorthold tenancy when the tenant violates the terms laid down in the tenancy agreement. There are 17 grounds on the basis of which landlord may seek possession before the fixed term of tenancy has come to an end.

Before applying for the order of the court with reference to eviction of the tenant, the landlord must serve the section 8 to evict on the tenant. The notice must provide the ground/s on the basis of which landlord wishes to obtain the possession.

The Housing Act 1988 defines 17 grounds that the landlord may use to recover possession. These grounds are laid down in Schedule 2 of the Act. It is important when using the section 8 you understand the different grounds. The grounds are simply the reason for your wanting possession. The first 8 grounds are ‘mandatory’. This means that if you can show that one of these grounds applies, the court must give possession. The remaining grounds are ‘discretionary’. This means that the court will not necessarily give possession, but will look at the whole situation and only then give a judgement.

The most common grounds are for rent arrears which are covered in three grounds, 8, 10, and 11. Usually, it is best to choose all three, if the tenant is in sufficient arrears to choose ground 8, (being mandatory). Be sure to read the grounds carefully and decide which ones you wish to include in your notice.

When claiming possession it is often a good idea to cite more than one ground in your claim. For example, ground 8 is a mandatory ground and thus the most powerful ground to use. The court must grant possession if this ground is proved. However, the drawback with relying on this ground alone is that the tenant can pay off part of the arrears shortly before the hearing, which means the ground can no longer be proved and thus the possession proceedings will have to be abandoned.

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