Residential Repossession and Payment of Arrears of Rent

Why would someone require this service?

A landlord will require this service when they want to recover unpaid rent and/or evict a tenant of a rental property let out under an assured tenancy agreement. 

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (“the Act”) is far-reaching legislation that rebalances the relationship between landlord and tenant and from 1 May 2026 it has profoundly changed the options for landlords in obtaining possession and evicting tenants. 

Most importantly it abolishes ‘no-fault’ section 21 possession claims.  From 1 May 2026 landlords who want possession will need to demonstrate to a court that they have grounds for possession.

New and amended grounds for possession

Your tenant is in rent arrears 

The most commonly used ground for possession is that the tenant is not paying the rent. Ground 8 is the mandatory ground that deals with arrears and is usually used alongside discretionary grounds 10 and 11.

The Act has lengthened the notice period from two weeks to four weeks and has also raised the required arrears from two to three months’ arrears on a monthly tenancy. The tenant must now be in at least three months of arrears both at the time the section 8 notice is served and at the time of the possession hearing.

You (or a family member) want to occupy the property yourself

Ground 1 can be relied upon where a landlord or a family member want to live in the property. The definition of a ‘family member’ has been expanded by the Act to include parents, grandparents, siblings, children, grandchildren, spouses, and half-blood relations.

The notice period for this ground is four months. There is no need to give advanced notice to tenants that you may seek to rely on this ground in the future, but this ground cannot be used in the first 12 months of a new tenancy. Another important point to note is that you cannot re-let or market the property within 12 months from the date the section 8 notice is served unless it is to the family member or landlord.

Under the Act, it is an offence for landlords to rely on this ground then re-let the property within a 12-month period. Local authorities can and will issue fines.

You want to sell the property

Ground 1A is a new ground introduced by the Act. This can be relied upon where landlords wish to sell their property. Again, this cannot be used within the first 12 months of the tenancy and the notice period is also four months.

At the moment we do not have information on what evidence will be needed to show you are going to sell the property, but we expect the court’s will want to see a clear intention to sell so this could be an advertisement on Rightmove, sales particulars, valuations, offers or things of that nature at the time of the hearing.

This ground would also cover the granting of a long lease.

Again, you cannot re-let or market the property within 12 months of the date of service of the section 8 notice unless you are going to allow the potential purchaser to go into the property on a tenancy prior to the sale or you are granting a long lease.

As with ground 1, local authorities will be able to issue fines for misuse of this ground.

What is involved in obtaining possession?

The first step is to serve a notice on the tenant informing them of the arrears, other breach of the lease or your grounds for possession. This is known as a Section 8 Notice. 

Once the Section 8 Notice has been served and the notice period has elapsed then, if the tenant has not vacated, paid the arrears or otherwise remedied the breach then the landlord is entitled to issue possession proceedings at court to evict the tenant. The court will then list the matter for a hearing.  We will ordinarily arrange for the landlord to be represented at the court hearing by a specialist barrister.  

Assuming that the proceedings are uncontested and at least three months arrears remain at the date of the hearing the court must order the tenant to vacate the property and will usually order the tenant to pay arrears. If there are less than three months’ arrears the court will still have discretion as to whether to award possession and will consider all of the circumstances. Where the court does have discretion, it might consider awarding a suspended possession order which would allow the tenant to remain living at the property provided that payment of future rent was paid on time and the arrears cleared. 

If the court does order the tenant to vacate it will normally give fourteen days to do so. If the tenant does not abide by the court order then the landlord can apply to the court bailiff for assistance to remove the tenant from the property.

If the tenant fails to pay the landlord the arrears of rent owing, then we can advise separately as to the various methods of enforcement available to the landlord to recover the monetary sum.

How long does it take?

Once court proceedings are issued under section 8 the court will normally list a hearing to take place within 12-16 weeks. If the tenant does not vacate the property following a possession and you instruct a bailiff it could take an additional 4 to 8 weeks to obtain the relevant warrant or writ and another 4 to 8 weeks to arrange an eviction appointment. High Court Bailiffs can be appointed in some circumstances and they are usually quicker but more expensive. 

Is it expensive? What are the likely costs?

We offer a competitive pricing for acting for residential possession cases. Please contact us for more information.

What are the things that people should consider before calling?

Landlords should ensure that they are clear as to the current level of any rental arrears and prepare a schedule. Landlords should also have available the current tenancy agreement for consideration.

Why are Grant Saw the best people for the job?

This is a specialist area of law and there are many pitfalls. It is best practice to instruct solicitors who have expertise in this subject area, as a technical error in procedure can lead to months of delay and potentially wasted costs to landlords.

We have successfully assisted landlords for many years in recovering possession of their properties and rent arrears.

Evicting a tenant due to arrears of rent - myth busting

That the landlord can take matters into their own hands and physically evict their tenant without involving the court. This is incorrect and illegal. 

Landlords must obtain a court order in order to evict their tenant (unless the tenant agrees to voluntarily vacate the property beforehand). Furthermore, once a court order for possession has been obtained, the landlord must again seek assistance from a court bailiff in order to remove the tenant from the property (if the tenant refuses to vacate) and must not attend to this themselves.