What can a landlord do when a tenant stops paying rent?

A tenant falling behind on rent does not, by itself, give you a right to possession. In England the route is a section 8 notice citing the arrears grounds in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988, then a county court claim. One figure changed on 1 May 2026: Ground 8, the mandatory arrears ground, now needs "at least three months' rent" unpaid where rent is monthly, and the arrears must exist both when you serve and at the hearing.

The first fortnight

Telephone before you write. A missed payment is more often a cancelled bank mandate, a changed payday or a benefit gap than a decision to stop paying. Confirm it the same day in writing and open a rent account with a running balance: every later step is only as good as that record.

Then find out why: a benefit delay points to a managed payment, a lost job to a short written plan, an unanswered repair complaint back at you. A plan clearing the arrears over a stated number of months, on top of the rent, beats a notice: notices produce no rent and cost money.

Universal Credit: rent can be paid direct to you

If your tenant claims Universal Credit, "the money you get for housing can be sent directly to your landlord" — a "managed payment to landlord".

DWP guidance says one can be made where "a claimant is in arrears with their rent for an amount equal to, or more than, 2 months of their rent", among other factors. Arrears are not essential: "A claimant does not need to be in rent arrears to be considered for an APA."

You can apply yourself: "If your tenant receives Universal Credit you can apply at any time by using the Apply for a Direct Rent Payment service." That service can also seek a deduction towards the arrears. Your tenant is then asked whether they object, and will "usually be given 14 days to respond with evidence" while "Universal Credit payments will be paused during this period."

Ground 8: the figure that changed

Ground 8 bites "Both at the date of the service of the notice under section 8 of this Act relating to the proceedings for possession and at the date of the hearing", where:

• "if rent is payable weekly or fortnightly, at least thirteen weeks' rent is unpaid"
• "if rent is payable monthly, at least three months' rent is unpaid"

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 (c. 26) raised those from eight weeks and two months, and went further — Schedule 1 to the Act says "omit paragraphs (c) and (d)", the old quarterly and yearly limbs. There is no longer a Ground 8 threshold for quarterly rent; section 4A now voids any rent period longer than a month.

"Rent" here means "rent lawfully due from the tenant", and a Universal Credit disregard was inserted: "any amount that was unpaid only because the tenant had not yet received the payment of that award is to be ignored."

Ground 8 is mandatory: proved, the court must order possession. But a tenant who clears enough to fall below three months before the hearing defeats it outright.

Grounds 10 and 11, and why you cite all three

Ground 10 covers any arrears: some rent lawfully due "is unpaid on the date on which the proceedings for possession are begun" and was in arrears when the notice was served. Ground 11 needs no arrears on that date at all — it catches a tenant who "has persistently delayed paying rent which has become lawfully due."

Both sit in Part II of Schedule 2, so both are discretionary: the court "may make an order for possession if it considers it reasonable to do so." Cite them alongside Ground 8: if a payment on the court steps kills Ground 8, they still stand.

Notice period, and the twelve-month window

Section 8(4AA) sets a table of notice periods. Grounds 8, 10 and 11 each require "four weeks beginning with the date of service of the notice".

Where a notice cites several grounds, the date in it "must not be before the end of the longest period shown in the following table for any ground specified in the notice." Add a four-month ground, such as selling, and the whole notice runs four months.

The notice must also state that proceedings "will not begin later than twelve months from the date of service of the notice" (s8(3)(c)). Let it lapse and you start again.

What blocks a claim even when the arrears are real

Section 215 of the Housing Act 2004, substituted from 1 May 2026, makes deposit compliance a precondition of possession: the court may make an order "only if the tenancy deposit is being held in accordance with an authorised scheme", only if the scheme's initial requirements have been met "(whether or not within the period mentioned by section 213(3))", and only if section 213(5) and (6)(a), the prescribed information, have been complied with.

The exemption will not help you: those subsections "do not apply in relation to an order for possession made on Ground 7A or 14". Arrears claims are caught. Late protection can be cured before you issue; absent or defective protection cannot, short of returning the deposit "in full or with such deductions as are agreed between the landlord and tenant." See our deposits guide.

Pre-action protocol: read the title carefully

The Pre-Action Protocol for Possession Claims by Social Landlords is named for its scope: "This Protocol applies to residential possession claims in England and Wales brought by social landlords." No approved protocol governs a private landlord's arrears possession claim.

But the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols "applies to disputes where no pre-action protocol approved by the Master of the Rolls applies", and expects proportionate contact first. A money-only claim may engage the Debt Claims protocol.

Court, and the limits of a judgment

The notice is prescribed: "You must fill in form 3A of the assured tenancy forms." If the tenant stays past the notice date, apply for a possession order — "Complete an N5 form and an N119 form". The judge may make a possession order or a money order, adjourn, or dismiss the claim if procedure was not followed.

Possession and money are different: an order ends the tenancy, a money judgment turns the arrears into a debt — and a judgment against a tenant with nothing to take is worth little. Hence the conversation in week one, and fully managed letting. See also the Renters' Rights Act changes, ending a tenancy after section 21 and our fees.

General information, current at October 2026, and not legal advice. Arrears possession turns on exact dates and figures — take advice before serving any notice.

To have a rent account 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, or book a valuation.