Tenancy & deposits
What is a section 8 notice?
A section 8 notice seeks possession on one or more statutory grounds — rent arrears and breach of tenancy being the most common. Unlike a no-fault notice, it requires a reason that must be proved.
Grounds are either mandatory, where the court must order possession if the ground is made out, or discretionary, where it may. Which grounds are used shapes how the case runs and how certain the outcome is.
Because a ground has to be proved, the evidence behind it matters from long before the notice — a rent account that is accurate and contemporaneous, or a documented record of the breach relied on.
It is not subject to the same document-service preconditions as a no-fault notice, which is why it remains available where those were missed. That does not make it easier; it makes it different.
What goes wrong in practice
- Arrears grounds relied on with a rent account that cannot be evidenced.
- The wrong notice period given for the grounds used.
- Breaches relied on that were never notified to the tenant at the time.