Evicting a tenant with no written tenancy agreement

You can evict a tenant without a tenancy agreement in writing, using the same Section 8 process as for any other assured tenant: serve a Form 3A notice on a valid ground, wait for the notice period, and get a court order. A verbal letting is still a tenancy, and the Renters' Rights Act rules expressly cover "wholly oral" tenancies. What changes is how you prove the terms and how you serve the notice.

Is a verbal tenancy still a tenancy?

Yes. Since 1 May 2026 every private assured tenancy runs as a periodic tenancy, with rent periods of 28 days or less, or monthly. That applies whether the terms were written down or agreed by word of mouth. The Act also gave landlords of existing verbal tenancies until 31 May 2026 to provide written information about the key terms.

So you can't treat a verbal tenant as someone who can be asked to leave at will. You can only end an assured tenancy with a court order and its execution, and a notice to quit from you has no effect.

What you should have given the tenant

Tenancy	What the law requires	If you didn't
Verbal tenancy that began before 1 May 2026	Written information on the key terms, by 31 May 2026	Penalty risk of up to £7,000
Any tenancy that began on or after 1 May 2026	A written statement of terms before the tenancy was agreed	Penalty risk of up to £7,000
Any tenancy where rent is claimed	Your address in England or Wales for serving notices	Rent is treated as not due until you give it

We haven't found any rule that a missing written statement stops the court making a possession order on its own, but it is a penalty risk, and it makes your case harder to prove. If you haven't given one, read the written statement of terms and take advice on the penalty risk.

The address rule matters most. Under section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987, rent is treated as not due until you've given the tenant an address in England or Wales where notices can be served on you. Before serving a rent arrears notice, give that address in writing, and take advice on how it affects the arrears figure.

Proving the tenancy terms

The court will ask for the tenancy type, the start date, the rent and how often it's due, and a daily rate (form N119 asks for all of these). Pull together:

• bank statements showing rent payments and their dates;
• texts, emails or messages about the rent, the start date or moving in;
• the deposit receipt and protection certificate;
• any written information you gave the tenant;
• a rent schedule with a running balance, if you claim arrears.

Serving the notice without a written agreement

There is no written agreement setting a service method, so use one of GOV.UK's methods:

1. Hand it to the tenant in person, which GOV.UK calls the most reliable method.
2. Deliver it to the property, through the letterbox if no one answers.
3. Send it by registered post to the property.

Don't rely on email: GOV.UK says to use it only if a written tenancy agreement clearly makes email an agreed method. Give a copy to every tenant, keep the original, and complete form N215 or write "served by [your name] on [the date]" on your copy. See how to serve a Section 8 notice.

Choosing a ground

Most grounds work the same way without a written agreement. A few depend on written documents:

• Ground 4A (student lets) can't be used without a written statement given before the tenancy.
• Ground 12 (breach) needs a term the tenant broke, which is harder to prove if nothing was written down.
• Grounds 1, 1A and 6 depend on the start date, so you need evidence of when the tenancy began.

How to evict a tenant without a tenancy agreement: a timeline

For a monthly verbal tenancy with £3,000 unpaid on £900 rent, after you've given the tenant your address in writing:

1. Monday 16 November 2026: serve Form 3A on Grounds 8, 10 and 11 by hand, and complete form N215.
2. Monday 14 December 2026: earliest court date. Issue online through Possession Claim Online or on paper.
3. 11 January to 8 February 2027: first hearing, at least 28 days after issue and normally within 8 weeks.
4. Around 8 February 2027: possession order at the median of 8.0 weeks from claim.
5. Around 4 June 2027: repossession by bailiffs at the median of 24.6 weeks from claim, if needed.

The medians are from the Ministry of Justice's mortgage and landlord possession statistics for April to June 2026 (published 13 August 2026), for private landlords' standard claims. The figures are provisional, and most of those claims rested on notices served before 1 May 2026. With £3,000 owed on £900 a month, the Ground 8 threshold of 3 months' rent (£2,700) is met at service; it must still be met at the hearing. See evicting for rent arrears.

Costs

The court fee is £415 to issue, online or on paper, and £152 for a warrant. Our Section 8 notice costs £39 and our court pack £79. See eviction costs.

What to avoid

Watch out: "there's no contract, so they have no rights" is a costly mistake. Changing the locks on a verbal tenant is illegal eviction, which can bring prosecution or a council penalty of up to £40,000.

• Ending the tenancy orally, or requiring the tenant to end it orally. Either is a breach with a penalty of up to £7,000.
• Serving by email or text only.
• Claiming arrears before giving the tenant your address for notices.

This guide covers England only. Wales (Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016), Scotland and Northern Ireland have different law.

What to do next

Gather your evidence of the terms, then create a Section 8 notice. Our builder asks for the start date and rent so the dates and wording come out right. Once the notice expires, follow the possession claim guide. For other situations, go back to how to evict a tenant.