Eviction grounds under the Renters' Rights Act: an overview

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 rebuilt how tenancies end in England. Fixed terms gave way to rolling tenancies. Section 21 "no-fault" eviction is gone. A landlord must now use a set ground from the revised Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988. Here is the overview.

Key facts

• Ministry of Justice figures show landlords made 22,733 possession claims in the county courts of England and Wales in January to March 2026, with 6,888 repossessions carried out by county court bailiffs. Mortgage and landlord possession statistics, GOV.UK
• In the same quarter there were 16,848 possession orders and 10,172 warrants, each down on the same period a year earlier. Mortgage and landlord possession statistics, GOV.UK

What changed?

Before the Act, most private tenancies ended by Section 21 notice: no reason required. That route is abolished.

Private tenancies now roll month to month, sometimes week to week. Ending one takes a "notice seeking possession" resting on one or more set grounds.

The mandatory grounds (the court must grant possession if the ground is proved)

Ground 1, moving in: the landlord, or close family (spouse, civil partner, parent, grandparent, child, sibling), intends to make the property their main home.

Ground 1A, selling: the landlord intends to sell with vacant possession.

Ground 7A, anti-social behaviour: serious anti-social behaviour, an injunction, a criminal behaviour order, or similar.

Ground 7B, right to rent: the tenant lacks the right to rent in the UK.

Ground 8, serious rent arrears: at the notice date AND the hearing, the tenant owes at least 13 weeks' rent (weekly tenancies) or 3 months' (monthly). The bar sits higher than the old 8-week or 2-month level.

Ground 14, nuisance: serious nuisance or annoyance to neighbours or others.

The discretionary grounds (the court weighs whether possession is reasonable)

Ground 9, alternative accommodation: the landlord offers somewhere else suitable.

Ground 10, arrears below the bar: behind on rent, but under the mandatory level.

Ground 11, persistent lateness: rent often paid late, even with nothing owed at the hearing.

Ground 12, breach: a broken tenancy term.

Ground 13, deterioration: the tenant made the property's condition worse.

Ground 14A, domestic abuse accommodation: a registered provider needs the property for someone fleeing domestic abuse. It protects the re-use of that special housing.

Notice periods

Most grounds carry longer notice than before. Key periods:

• Grounds 1 and 1A: 4 months
• Ground 8 (serious arrears): 4 weeks
• Ground 7A (anti-social behaviour): 4 weeks
• Most other grounds: 2 months

Check exact periods against current statutory instruments; some detail sits in secondary legislation.

What if the landlord serves an invalid notice?

A notice missing the requirements, wrong period, wrong form, a ground not made out, is invalid. Raise that as a defence when the landlord goes to court.

How does this relate to disrepair?

An eviction notice wipes out no reported, unfixed disrepair. Your claim right survives whatever happens in court, and the disrepair can run as a counterclaim there too.

And a stated reason that smells like cover, "selling" while planning to re-let, can be challenged.

When should I contact Support for Tenants?

An eviction notice, in a home with disrepair the landlord will not fix? Call us on 0800 030 4669. A disrepair claim can run beside, or after, possession proceedings.

No upfront cost. You only pay if you win, and the fee comes out of the compensation, not your pocket. If you don't win, you pay nothing.

Sources

• Housing Act 1988 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Deregulation Act 2015 (legislation.gov.uk)

Related articles

• Section 21 abolition, what it means for tenants
• Ground 1A, eviction because the landlord wants to sell
• Eviction notice, reasons it might be invalid
• Defending a possession claim as a tenant