Ground 5G: council homelessness placement ended

Section 8 Ground 5G lets you recover a let home in England where the tenant was placed there under a council's homelessness duty, and the council has told you the tenancy is no longer needed for that duty. It is a mandatory ground with a 4-week notice period. The date in your notice must be no more than 12 months after the council's notification.

What Ground 5G means in plain English

Two conditions must both be met:

1. at some point, the tenant occupied the home under the local housing authority's main homelessness duty, in section 193 of the Housing Act 1996; and
2. the council has notified you that the tenancy is not required for that duty, and the date in your notice is no more than 12 months after that notification.

The tenant only needs to have been there under the duty "at any time". It doesn't have to be the position today.

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

Private landlords who let homes to households placed by the council under its homelessness duty can use Ground 5G. You can't use it without the council's notification, or once more than 12 months have passed since it. It also doesn't apply where the council helped in other ways but the tenant never occupied the home under the section 193 duty. If you aren't sure which basis the council used, ask it in writing before you serve.

Section 8 Ground 5G notice period and the 12-month deadline

You must give at least 4 weeks' notice, counted from the day you serve. The date in Form 3A question 2.1 should be the day after that period ends. The 12-month limit then runs from the council's notification to that date.

A worked example for a fictional landlord whose council letter is dated 12 November 2026:

To be safe, count from the date on the council's letter, not the day it reached you. Court proceedings must also start within 12 months of service. Our Section 8 notice period calculator works out the 4-week date.

Prior statement. Ground 5G is one of the grounds you can flag in the written statement of terms for tenancies that began on or after 1 May 2026. If you didn't, you risk a civil penalty of up to £7,000, but the court can still order possession. The duty doesn't apply to existing tenancies that were wholly or partly in writing.

Evidence to gather

• The council's written notification that the tenancy is no longer required for its homelessness duty, with its date.
• Evidence of the original placement under section 193, such as the council's referral or placement letter, or any agreement with the council.
• The tenancy agreement and its start date.
• A note of how and when you received the council's notification.

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

In question 4.2, copy the full legal wording of Ground 5G from GOV.UK's legal wording document. In question 4.3, explain the facts in your own words. A short example for a fictional landlord:

Ground 5G. The tenant moved into the property on 3 March 2026 under Example Borough Council's main homelessness duty under section 193 of the Housing Act 1996 (placement letter attached). By a letter dated 12 November 2026 (copy attached), the council notified me that the tenancy is no longer required for that duty. The date in question 2.1 is within 12 months of that notification.

What the court does

Ground 5G is mandatory. If both conditions are proved, the court 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. 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 12-month clock starts with the council's notification, not with your notice. A letter that sits in a drawer for a year makes the ground unavailable.

• No written notification. A phone call or an informal email from a caseworker may not be enough evidence. Ask for a letter.
• Wording. Quoting only "Ground 5G" in question 4.2 can make the notice invalid. Our guide to invalid Section 8 notices lists the common errors.
• 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 the 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

Get the council's notification in writing and diary the 12-month limit. Then prepare Form 3A; our builder works out the date and inserts the GOV.UK wording. Read how to serve a Section 8 notice, or compare options in the full list of Section 8 grounds, such as Ground 8 for serious rent arrears.