Repossession of private rental property after the Renters’ Rights Act 2025

December 15, 2025 | Mercers Solicitors

Section 21 Notices will be abolished from 1 May 2026. Landlords, of private rental properties let under an Assured Tenancy, will only be able to evict tenants if they have evidence to support one of the “grounds” for possession.

(NB after 1 May 2026, most tenancies will be Assured Tenancies and on a periodic basis. If a tenancy is described as an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, it will have no effect after that date. If a tenancy includes a fixed term, that clause in the tenancy agreement will have no effect. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 abolishes Assured Shorthold Tenancies and fixed term tenancies. The only exceptions are tenancies that fall within an exception set out in Schedule 1 of the Housing Act 1988, such as holiday lets, very low or high rental tenancies or where the landlord is also living at the property.)

The main grounds for possession, in summary, will be;

the landlord intends to sell the property,
the landlord, or the landlord’s family, intends to move into the property, or
the tenant is in breach of the terms of the tenancy or anti-social behaviour.

Landlords cannot use the first two grounds within the first 12 months of the tenancy and they cannot let the property in the subsequent 12 months after regaining possession, including short term letting such as AirBnB.

Notice

After 1 May 2026, there will only be one form of notice a landlord can give a tenant – a Section 8 Notice. These types of possession notices are not new but they were not used so often as Section 21 Notices because when claiming possession on the basis of a Section 8 Notice,

a) it is necessary to include in the Section 8 Notice a reason or “ground” for

evicting the tenant, and

b) the court may not grant possession if the ground is discretionary.

The Section 8 Notice is a prescribed form. There will be a new form to be used after 1 May 2026 called Form 3A.

The grounds that relied on in the notice must be copied out in full in the relevant section of the Section 8 Notice. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 transfers some of the requirements that applied to Section 21 Notices to Section 8 Notices. For example, it was previously possible to serve a Section 8 Notice when a landlord was in default of the tenancy deposit rules. However, in the new regime, except for anti-social grounds, landlords must comply with the tenancy deposit rules and be registered on the private rented sector database (and ombudsman) as pre-conditions for serving a possession notice. The pre-requisites in connection with gas safety certificates and the “How to Rent Guide” are not mentioned in the Act but further government legislation could alter that position.

Grounds for Possession

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 provides for new grounds and new expiry periods. Some grounds are mandatory (which means the court must grant possession if it is satisfied that the ground is made out) and others are discretionary (which means the court has a choice whether to grant possession or not. In the past, the court has been reluctant to grant possession on non-mandatory grounds unless the circumstances are extreme.)

Repossession on grounds of rent arrears:

Previously, Section 8 Notices were most commonly used when the Tenant was in arrears with the rent. There are three grounds that apply to rent arrears, one is mandatory and two are discretionary.

The mandatory ground, (Ground 8), required the landlord to show that more than 2 months’ rent was unpaid at the date the notice was served and at the date of the court hearing. Ground 8 has been amended so that it will be necessary to show more than 3 months’ rent is unpaid at the date of the notice and hearing. The notice period has also been extended. Previously, the landlord could file a possession claim 2 weeks after serving the Section 8 notice on rent arrears grounds. Under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, the landlord must give 4 weeks’ notice before filing the claim.

The discretionary grounds, (Grounds 10 and 11), apply where there are any rent arrears or where there have been persistent rent arrears. The notice period will be 4 weeks for these grounds.

Repossession on ground that Landlord or family intend to move into the property:

This is a new ground (Ground 1) introduced by the Renters’ Rights Act. Possession cannot be sought under this ground for the first 12 months of the tenancy (including the first date and the date on which notice is served). It will be possible to serve the notice within the 12 month period, but the expiry of the notice must be after 12 month period.

The Landlord will have to show evidence that one of the following persons will be moving into the property:

(a) the landlord;

(b) the landlord’s spouse or civil partner or a person with whom the landlord lives as if they were married or in a civil partnership;

(c) the landlord’s—

(i) parent;

(ii) grandparent;

(iii) sibling;

(iv) child;

(v) grandchild;

(d) a child or grandchild of a person mentioned in paragraph (b).

A relationship of the half-blood is to be treated as a relationship of the whole blood.

Repossession on ground that Landlord intends to sell the property:

What evidence will be sufficient to satisfy the court of the Landlord’s intention? In the Guidance to the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 Guide to the Renters’ Rights Act – GOV.UK the following is suggested, “a landlord might show they have instructed an estate agent and solicitor if they wished to prove they were selling a property.” Once the grounds begin to be used (and that will be after 1 May 2027) the approach of the courts will become known by those cases that are reported.

Here are the grounds available for landlords of private rental properties:

Mandatory Grounds	Notice Period	Conditions and Requirements
Rent arrears	4 weeks	Three months’ rent outstanding at date of notice and also at date of court hearing.
Landlord intends to sell property	4 months	Cannot be used in first 12 months of tenancy and the Landlord cannot market or re-let for 12 months after repossession
Landlord intends to move into property	4 months	Cannot be used in first 12 months of tenancy and the Landlord cannot market or re-let for 12 months after repossession
HMO let to full time students	4 months	Tenancy cannot have been agreed more than 6 months before start of tenancy. Must be an HMO and start of tenancy in line with academic year.
End of employment of Tenant by Landlord	2 months	Tenant was employed by the Landlord, and the employment has come to an end.
Death of Tenant	2 months	The person who inherits tenancy by will or intestacy must not have been living at the property immediately before the death of the Tenant.
Severe Anti Social Behaviour or Criminal Offence	Immediate	Tenant has been convicted of an offence (included in list).
Tenant has no Right to Rent	2 weeks	Landlord must have received notice from Secretary of State

Discretionary Grounds	Notice Period	Conditions and Requirements
Suitable alternate accommodation is made available for the Tenant	2 months
Any rent is outstanding	4 weeks
Persistently late rent payments	4 weeks
Breach of a term of the tenancy (apart from rent)	2 weeks
Deterioration of state of the property	2 weeks
Deterioration of furniture	2 weeks
Anti-Social Behaviour by Tenant or anyone visiting the Tenant or illegal use of the property	Immediate	The tenant or anyone living in or visiting the property has been guilty of behaviour causing, or likely to cause, nuisance or annoyance to the landlord, or anyone living in, visiting or in the locality of the property. Or the tenant or a person living or visiting the property has been convicted of using the premises for illegal/immoral purposes, or has been convicted of an indictable offence in the locality.
The tenancy was granted due to a false statement made knowingly or recklessly by the tenant or someone acting on their instigation	2 weeks