How to evict a tenant in England (2026 guide)

How to evict a tenant in England comes down to four steps: serve a Section 8 notice on Form 3A that relies on at least one legal ground, wait for the notice period to end, get a possession order from the county court, and, if the tenant still stays, ask the court to send bailiffs. Section 21 "no-fault" notices can no longer be used for private tenancies, so since 1 May 2026 every eviction needs a ground you can prove.

This guide is for private landlords letting on assured tenancies in England. If you're researching how to evict a tenant in the UK more widely, note that the eviction process in the UK is not one system: Wales (Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016), Scotland and Northern Ireland have different law. Social housing tenancies still use the old Form 3 regime.

How to evict a tenant: the process step by step

If you're asking "how do I evict a tenant?", the answer is the same eight steps whatever your ground. Only the notice period, the evidence and the court's discretion change.

1. Check what kind of letting you have. Private assured shorthold tenancies became assured periodic tenancies on 1 May 2026 (unless an old Section 21 claim was already in court), and fixed terms no longer have any effect. You can end an assured tenancy only through a court order and its execution. A notice to quit from you has no legal effect. Lodgers and relatives living in your own home are usually a different case (see "Choose your situation" below).
2. Check the deposit. If you took a deposit, the court can make a possession order only if the deposit is held in an authorised scheme, the scheme's initial requirements were met (even if late) and you gave the tenant the prescribed information. The exceptions are Grounds 7A and 14. See deposit protection.
3. Choose your ground or grounds. Each ground has its own conditions, evidence and notice period. Mandatory grounds oblige the court to order possession if you prove them; discretionary grounds leave it to the judge. The full list is in Section 8 grounds.
4. Complete and serve Form 3A. Name every joint tenant, copy the full legal wording of each ground into question 4.2, explain your reasons and evidence in question 4.3, set the earliest court date in question 2.1 and sign. Hand it over, deliver it to the property or send it by registered post. Use email only if the written tenancy agreement clearly allows it. Record service on form N215. See how to serve a Section 8 notice.
5. Wait for the notice period. You can't issue a claim before the date in question 2.1, and you must start proceedings within 12 months of serving the notice.
6. Apply to the county court. File forms N5 and N119 on paper, or use Possession Claim Online if the claim is based solely on rent arrears. The fee is £415 either way. The court fixes the hearing date when it issues the claim: at least 28 days later, and normally no more than 8 weeks.
7. Attend the hearing. On a mandatory ground the court must order possession if you prove it, and the possession date is usually within 14 days (up to 6 weeks for exceptional hardship). On a discretionary ground the judge decides whether an order is reasonable and can suspend it on conditions. If you don't attend, the claim can be dismissed.
8. Ask for bailiffs if the tenant stays. Apply for a warrant of possession (form N325, £152). The bailiffs must deliver a notice of eviction (form N54) to the property at least 14 days before the eviction. You can instead ask for the case to be transferred to the High Court for enforcement.

How long each stage takes

Stage	What happens	Time
Notice	You serve Form 3A	None to 4 months, depending on the ground
Issuing the claim	You file N5 and N119, or use PCOL	From the day after the notice date, within 12 months of service
First hearing	The judge hears the claim	At least 28 days after issue, normally within 8 weeks
Claim to order	Possession order made	Median 8.0 weeks
Claim to warrant	Warrant issued	Median 13.3 weeks
Warrant to repossession	Bailiffs carry out the eviction	Median 8.7 weeks
Claim to repossession	The whole court stage	Median 24.6 weeks (mean 33.6 weeks)

The medians are for private landlords' standard claims in England and Wales, from the Ministry of Justice's mortgage and landlord possession statistics for April to June 2026 (published 13 August 2026, figures provisional). They cover only the first two months after the Renters' Rights Act changes, and most of those claims rested on older notices, so use them as a guide rather than a promise.

Worked example (rent arrears): serve a Ground 8 notice on Monday 2 November 2026 → earliest court date Monday 30 November 2026 → issue the claim on Tuesday 1 December 2026 → first hearing between 29 December 2026 and 26 January 2027 → at the median, repossession around 22 May 2027. Our eviction timeline calculator runs the same sums for your dates, and how long eviction takes explains what slows cases down.

Which ground fits your reason for eviction?

Your reason	Ground	Type	Minimum notice
At least 3 months' (or 13 weeks') rent unpaid	8, plus 10 and 11	Mandatory (8)	4 weeks
Smaller arrears or persistent late payment	10, 11	Discretionary	4 weeks
You or a close relative will move in	1	Mandatory	4 months, not in the first 12 months
You're selling	1A	Mandatory	4 months, not in the first 12 months
Demolition or substantial works	6	Mandatory	4 months
A tenancy term has been broken	12	Discretionary	2 weeks
Damage to the property or furniture	13, 15	Discretionary	2 weeks
Nuisance or antisocial behaviour	14	Discretionary	None
Serious antisocial behaviour with a conviction or court finding	7A	Mandatory	None
The Home Office says the tenant has no right to rent	7B	Mandatory	2 weeks
The tenancy was inherited after the tenant died	7	Mandatory	2 months
A student HMO is needed for new students	4A	Mandatory	4 months, date between 1 June and 30 September
Your lender needs vacant possession to sell	2	Mandatory	4 months

If you use several grounds, the earliest court date is set by the longest notice period, unless the notice includes Ground 7A or 14, in which case the date can be the day you serve it. Section 8 notice periods shows how to count the days.

Choose your situation

Rent and the tenant's behaviour

• Rent arrears: Grounds 8, 10 and 11 and the 3-month threshold.
• Antisocial behaviour: Grounds 7A and 14, with no minimum notice.
• Damage to the property: Grounds 13 and 15 and the evidence a judge expects.
• Breaking the tenancy agreement: Ground 12 and the clauses that no longer count.
• No right to rent: Ground 7B and the Home Office notice.

You need the property back

• Selling the property: Ground 1A and the 12-month re-letting ban.
• Moving back in yourself: Ground 1 and the first-year bar.
• A family member moving in: which relatives count under Ground 1.
• Redevelopment or refurbishment: Ground 6 and the 6-month rule.
• Your mortgage lender needs possession: how Ground 2 works.
• Student lets: Ground 4A and the June to September window.

Less common situations

• The tenant has died: succession, Ground 7 and its 12-month deadline.
• The tenant has abandoned the property: why you can't just change the locks.
• No written tenancy agreement: verbal tenancies follow the same process.
• Evicting a lodger: why Section 8 usually doesn't apply.
• A family member or ex-partner: the questions that decide your route.

Notices, time and money

• Which eviction notice to use: Form 3A, and why letters and Section 21 no longer work.
• The tenant won't leave: what to do once the notice ends.
• Evicting a tenant quickly: the fastest lawful route.
• How long eviction takes: stage by stage, with a calculator.
• Eviction costs: court fees and the price of each route.
• Illegal eviction and harassment: what landlords must not do.

What eviction costs

The court fees in force from 13 July 2026 are £415 to issue a possession claim (paper or online, with a claim for rent arrears included at no extra fee) and £152 for a warrant of possession. Some GOV.UK guide pages still show the old £148 warrant fee; the fee order says £152. Transferring the case to the High Court for enforcement costs £126 (without notice) or £321 (on notice), plus £82 to seal the writ.

Our Section 8 notice costs £39 and our possession court pack (N5 and N119) costs £79. We prepare the documents and check them against the rules; you sign them, file them and pay the court fee yourself. See eviction costs for a full comparison with doing it yourself and using a solicitor.

What you must not do

Watch out: changing the locks, or using anyone other than court bailiffs or High Court enforcement officers to remove a tenant, is illegal eviction. Councils can impose a civil penalty of up to £40,000 for unlawful eviction or harassment, and it is also a criminal offence.

• Don't serve a notice to quit or a home-made "eviction letter". A landlord's notice to quit has no effect, and a document that claims to be a possession notice but isn't in accordance with section 8 can lead to a penalty of up to £7,000.
• Don't rely on a ground you don't reasonably believe you can prove. If the tenant then leaves within 4 months without a court order, you risk a penalty, or prosecution if you knew or were reckless.
• Don't re-let or advertise the property to rent during the restricted period after using Ground 1 or 1A. That can mean a fine on prosecution or a civil penalty of up to £40,000.
• Don't forget the deposit rules. The notice stays valid, but the order is blocked until you comply.

A further rule is in the Renters' Rights Act but not yet in force: once the private rented sector database duty applies, the court won't make a possession order (except on Grounds 7A and 14) while a landlord is in breach of it. Registration is due to open region by region from 15 December 2026. The full list of risks is in illegal eviction and harassment.

What happened to Section 21?

Section 21 was abolished for private tenancies on 1 May 2026, and 30 April 2026 was the last day to give one. Claims on those notices had to be started by 31 July 2026, so apart from rare breathing-space cases no new claim can be made on a Section 21 notice now. The accelerated procedure (form N5B) is limited to those transitional cases. Read more in Section 21 notices and Section 8 vs Section 21.

What to do next

• If you know your ground, start with a Section 8 notice. Our builder works out every notice period and date, and checks the grounds against your answers.
• If your notice has already expired and the tenant is still there, go to making a possession claim.
• To check dates before you serve, use the Section 8 notice period calculator.