A landlord can serve a Section 8 notice when a tenant breaches their rental agreement.
The Housing Act 1988 outlines 17 different legal grounds for eviction, split into two categories:
Grounds 1 – 8 are the mandatory grounds which if proven, the court must order the tenant to leave. Most commonly under these grounds we see situations where there are serious rent arrears (at least 2 months of rent) from the tenant.
Grounds 9 – 17 are discretionary grounds which means that the court has the power to grant or refuse possession. These grounds may include when a tenant has failed to pay rent continuously over time or has damaged a property beyond fair wear and tear. Navigating a claim on a discretionary ground can be difficult. From our experience, a landlord has the best chance at success if they can provide reliable evidence of the breaches of the tenancy agreement or other grounds relied on (such as convictions for antisocial behaviour).
