Ground 5C: end of employment (tied accommodation)

Section 8 Ground 5C lets you recover tied accommodation in England when the home was let because of the tenant's job and that job has ended. It replaced Ground 16 on 1 May 2026 and is now mandatory, so the court must order possession if you prove it. It needs at least 2 months' notice.

What Ground 5C means in plain English

The home must have been let to the tenant because of their employment. That letting can have been made by you, by a joint landlord, by a previous landlord, or under an agreement with the tenant's employer. Then one of these must apply:

1. the tenant has left that employment; or
2. the tenancy was for the early period of the job, that purpose has been fulfilled, and you intend to let the home to another current or future employee.

"The employer" means the tenant's employer at the time they entered the tenancy. Modified rules apply where the job is with the NHS or the police, so check the full wording for those.

These rules apply to private assured tenancies in England only. Wales (Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016), Scotland and Northern Ireland have different law.

Who can and can't use it

Ground 5C suits genuine tied lets: a farm cottage for a farm hand, a caretaker's flat, a manager's flat above a business, or a let arranged with a local employer for its staff. If you took over a property with a tied tenant in it, the previous landlord's letting still counts.

You can't use it where the job had nothing to do with why you let the home, for example a tenant who simply happens to work for you. Ground 16 itself no longer exists, so never cite it on a new notice. If you need a home back to house a farm worker, Ground 5A may also apply.

Section 8 Ground 5C notice period and prior notice

You must give at least 2 months' notice, counted from the day you serve. For a fictional tenant whose job ended on 30 September 2026:

There is no 12-month protected period. If you add a ground with a longer period, the longest sets the date; see Section 8 notice periods.

Prior notice. GOV.UK says you must give prior notice of Ground 5C. Under the Housing Act 1988, for tenancies that began on or after 1 May 2026, a missing statement in the written statement of terms risks a civil penalty of up to £7,000 but doesn't stop the court ordering possession. The duty doesn't apply to existing tenancies that were wholly or partly in writing; see Section 8 for existing tenancies.

Evidence to gather

• The employment contract, or the agreement with the employer, showing the home came with the job.
• Any service occupancy terms or staff housing policy that links the two.
• Proof the job has ended: a resignation letter, termination letter or final payslip with the leaving date.
• For the second limb, evidence of the intended early period and of the new employee who will move in.
• The written statement of terms, if the tenancy began on or after 1 May 2026.

How to explain Ground 5C in Form 3A question 4.3

In question 4.2, copy the full legal wording of Ground 5C from GOV.UK's legal wording document. In question 4.1 you can also tick the box for Grounds 4A, 5A and 5C. In question 4.3, explain the facts in your own words. A short example for a fictional landlord:

Ground 5C. I let the flat above my restaurant to Jordan Reid on 1 June 2026 because he was employed as my restaurant manager; his employment contract says the flat comes with the job (copy attached). He resigned and his employment ended on 30 September 2026 (resignation letter attached). He has not worked for me since.

What the court does

Ground 5C is now mandatory. Under the old Ground 16 the court also had to decide whether an order was reasonable. Now, if the ground is proved, it must order possession, subject to the limits in section 7 of the Housing Act 1988 and any human rights defence. The possession date is usually within 14 days, or up to 6 weeks for exceptional hardship. See mandatory vs discretionary grounds.

If you took a deposit, the court can only make the order once the deposit is protected and the prescribed information has been given, or it has been returned.

Pitfalls and penalties

Watch out: the revised Housing Act text on legislation.gov.uk is missing the sentence defining "the employer". Copy Ground 5C from GOV.UK's legal wording document, which includes it.

• Citing Ground 16. It no longer exists for private tenancies, so a notice relying on it fails.
• No real link to the job. If the letting wasn't because of the employment, the ground fails.
• Defective notice. Serving a notice that doesn't comply with section 8 can attract a penalty of up to £7,000.
• No reasonable belief. Relying on a ground without reasonable belief that you could get possession risks a penalty of up to £7,000 if the tenant leaves within 4 months.

What to do next

Gather the employment records, then prepare Form 3A. Our builder inserts the GOV.UK wording for Ground 5C and works out the date. Read how to serve a Section 8 notice, or compare options in the full list of Section 8 grounds.