Section 8 Notice

Should your tenant breach his tenancy agreement and you need to take action, one route you could use is Section 8 Notice to Quit.

This notice covers many different breaches although most people only know it for rent arrears.

The notice covers mandatory and discretionary grounds for possession.

Rent Arrears – Ground 8, 10 and 11

Should your tenant not paid the rent and either:
(a) rent is payable weekly or fortnightly and at least 8 weeks' rent is unpaid;
(b) rent is payable monthly and at least 2 months' rent is unpaid;
(c) rent is payable quarterly and at least one quarter's rent is more than 3 months in arrears
(d) if rent is payable yearly, at least three months rent is more than three months in arrears.

Then you can serve a Section 8 Notice on Ground 8. This ground is a mandatory ground for possession as long as the above is at least still the case on the day the Notice is served and on the day of the Hearing. Of course things can still go wrong for example if your tenant has a defence but in most cases there is little excuse for not paying the rent.

We also serve Grounds 10 and 11 as well. These are discretionary grounds and the courts do not have to give you possession. These Ground are for rent arrears which fall below those required for Ground 8 and even if there are no rent arrears on the day of the Hearing shows here has been a history of rent arrears in the past.

Breach of Contract - Ground 12

This ground can be used if the tenant breaches the agreement, it is a discretionary ground and will require irrefutable evidence of the breach. The Tenant having changed the locks will not be good enough breach to make your tenant homeless.

The above are the most common grounds use on Section 8 although there are in fact 17 different grounds relating to many different aspects.

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