Crime and Policing Act 2026: what changes for landlords from 26 October 2026

The headline change for landlords: from 26 October 2026, Ground 7A's injunction-breach condition is wider, a new civil respect order sits beside it, and the old anti-social behaviour injunction has been split in two. Private landlords still cannot apply for any of them — the council and the police remain the gateway.

The commencement is in regulation 4 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 (Commencement No. 3 and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/960): "The following provisions of the 2026 Act come into force on 26th October 2026", listing section 1 (respect orders), section 2 (youth injunctions, housing injunctions and consequential amendments) and Schedule 1.

For the eviction route under Ground 7A itself, see our existing antisocial behaviour guide; this piece covers what has actually changed around it.

The s1 injunction is now two injunctions

Section 2 and Schedule 1 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 split the old section 1 injunction into:

• a youth injunction, for a respondent under 18, applied for in the youth court, which may not exclude the respondent from where they normally live; and
• a housing injunction, for a respondent aged 18 or over, aimed at "housing-related anti-social conduct", applied for in the High Court or the county court.

Who can apply has not changed in substance. Section 5 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 still restricts applicants to local authorities, "housing providers" (defined in section 20 as social landlords), chief officers of police, the British Transport Police, Transport for London, Transport for Greater Manchester, the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and specified health-security bodies. Private landlords are not on that list, and the 2026 Act has not added them. The council or the police bring the application; you supply the evidence.

Respect orders — a new civil order

Section 1 of the 2026 Act inserts a new respect order into the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. In outline:

• a court may make one against a person aged 18 or over if satisfied they have engaged in, or threaten to engage in, anti-social behaviour, and it is just and convenient to do so;
• the order can prohibit specified things or require specified things;
• it runs for a stated period or until further order; and
• breach "without reasonable excuse" is a criminal offence, triable either way, carrying up to two years' imprisonment on indictment.

The applicant list for a respect order is the same closed list of "relevant authorities" as the housing injunction. A private landlord cannot apply. If a tenant or a neighbour's tenant is causing serious harassment, alarm or distress, the route is to put the evidence in front of the council or the police and ask them to apply.

The amendment to Ground 7A, condition 2

Schedule 1, paragraph 25 of the 2026 Act amends Ground 7A of Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988. In condition 2, "for 'section 1' substitute 'Part 1'; after '2014' insert 'or a respect order'".

The pre-amendment condition read: "the tenant, or a person residing in or visiting the dwelling-house, has breached a provision of an injunction under section 1 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, other than a provision requiring a person to participate in a particular activity".

After 26 October 2026, read it as: "...has breached a provision of an injunction under Part 1 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 or a respect order, other than a provision requiring a person to participate in a particular activity".

Three practical things fall out:

1. A broader trigger. A finding of breach of a housing injunction, a youth injunction or a respect order will now meet condition 2 — not only breach of the old section 1 injunction.
2. The clock is unchanged. Section 8(4D) still gives you 12 months from the finding to serve a section 8 notice on condition 2. Miss it and the mandatory ground is gone.
3. The consolidated page may lag. If legislation.gov.uk still shows the old wording, read Schedule 1 to the 2026 Act alongside it and apply the substitution yourself, or take advice.

Conditions 1, 3, 4 and 5 of Ground 7A are untouched, and the ground still depends on another authority or court having acted first.

What a landlord should actually do about this

Nothing on 26 October puts a new tool directly in your hand. What has widened is the kind of court finding that will later unlock Ground 7A. In practical terms:

• Report early, in writing. Serious or persistent anti-social behaviour goes to the council's anti-social behaviour team and, where there is risk to a person, to 101 or 999. Keep the reference.
• Keep the evidence a court will want. A dated incident log, written complaints from neighbours in their own words, your written warnings to the tenant naming the term breached, and the tenant's replies.
• Flag the Ground 7A route. When reporting, say you are considering possession under Ground 7A and would want to know of any injunction, respect order, closure order or conviction, so a notice can be served inside the 12-month (or 3-month, for condition 4) window.
• Do not try to apply yourself. The application is for the council, a social landlord or the police; a private landlord application will fail at the door.
• The ordinary route is still Ground 14 — discretionary, no 12-month clock, no third-party precondition. See our antisocial behaviour guide.

For broader context on the current statutory landscape see the Renters' Rights Act changes and, if arrears sit alongside the anti-social behaviour, rent arrears. Our fees are published separately.

A short note on this update

This is an update for landlords, not a criminal-law briefing. Primary materials: the Crime and Policing Act 2026, Schedule 1, and SI 2026/960. What matters here is the knock-on effect on the Ground 7A possession route — and that the gateway still runs through the council and the police.

General information, current at October 2026, and not legal advice. The amendments bite on condition 2 of Ground 7A from 26 October 2026 and the earlier text may still appear on the consolidated Housing Act 1988 page — take advice before serving any notice.

To have an incident log or a draft section 8 notice checked before it is served, ring 0161 710 4510 or call in at 12–14 Midland Street, Manchester M12 6LB.