Section 8 notice periods for every ground

The Section 8 notice period is the minimum time between serving your notice and the earliest date you can start court proceedings. From 1 May 2026 it is 4 months, 2 months, 4 weeks, 2 weeks or nothing at all, depending on the ground, and the longest period applies when you use several grounds. Enter your service date and grounds below to get your dates, then read on for the counting rules and worked examples.

How much notice does each ground need? Section 8 notice period table

The periods are set by section 8(4AA) and 8(4) of the Housing Act 1988. Each one runs "beginning with the date of service of the notice".

Minimum notice	Grounds a private landlord can use	Social or supported housing grounds
4 months	1 (moving in), 1A (selling), 2 (mortgage lender), 2ZA to 2ZD (superior lease), 4A (student HMO), 6 (redevelopment), 6B (enforcement action)	1B, 6A
2 months	5 (minister of religion), 5A (agricultural worker), 5C (end of employment), 7 (death of tenant), 9 (alternative accommodation)	5B, 5D, 5H
4 weeks	5G (council placement ended), 8, 10 and 11 (rent arrears)	5E, 5F, 18
2 weeks	7B (no right to rent), 12 (breach), 13 (damage), 14ZA (rioting), 15 (furniture), 17 (false statement)	4, 14A
None	7A (serious antisocial behaviour or crime), 14 (nuisance or antisocial behaviour)

Every ground has its own page in our list of Section 8 grounds.

How to count a Section 8 notice period

"Beginning with the date of service" means the day you serve the notice is day one. GOV.UK's guidance says the date you put in question 2.1 must be the day after the notice period has expired. In practice:

• Weeks: add 7 days for each week to the service date. A 4-week notice served on Monday 2 November 2026 gives Monday 30 November 2026.
• Months: go to the same day number the right number of months later. A 4-month notice served on 2 November 2026 gives 2 March 2027.
• Month ends: if there is no matching day (a 4-month notice served on 31 October 2026 would point to 31 February), the courts haven't settled the answer for these notices. To be safe, use the 1st of the following month: 1 March 2027.
• Any day of the week: the date no longer has to be a rent day or the end of a rental period, and weekends count.
• More is allowed: you can give longer than the minimum.

GOV.UK's own example: a notice served on 1 June 2026 relying on Grounds 8 (4 weeks) and 7 (2 months) means the landlord waits until 1 August 2026.

Watch out: count from the day the tenant actually receives the notice. There is no statutory deemed-service rule for Section 8 notices, so to be safe add at least two working days if you post it. See how to serve a Section 8 notice.

Worked examples with real dates

Grounds used	Served	Earliest date in question 2.1
8 only	By hand, Monday 2 November 2026	Monday 30 November 2026
8, 10, 11 and 12	By hand, Monday 2 November 2026	Monday 30 November 2026 (4 weeks is the longest)
12 and 13	By hand, Monday 2 November 2026	Monday 16 November 2026
9	By hand, Monday 2 November 2026	Saturday 2 January 2027
8	Registered post on Monday 2 November 2026, counted from expected delivery on Wednesday 4 November	Wednesday 2 December 2026
1A, tenancy began in 2024	By hand, Monday 2 November 2026	Tuesday 2 March 2027
6B	By hand on Saturday 31 October 2026	To be safe, Monday 1 March 2027
12 and 14	By hand, Monday 2 November 2026	Monday 2 November 2026 (Ground 14 allows the date of service)

In the Ground 6B example, 31 October plus 4 months has no matching day in February, so the safe date is 1 March 2027.

Using several grounds: the longest period wins

When a notice relies on more than one ground, the date in question 2.1 must not be before the end of the longest period for any of them. Adding a 4-month ground to a 4-week arrears notice therefore pushes your earliest court date back by about three months. If you need possession quickly for arrears, think carefully before adding a slower ground you may not need.

There is one exception. If the notice includes Ground 7A or Ground 14, the usual table doesn't apply and the date can be the date of service, even if your other grounds would normally need longer. GOV.UK's landlord guidance confirms this. But if only Ground 7A or 14 is proved at court, the court can't make an order taking effect within 14 days of the date of service.

Extra time limits on top of the notice period

Some grounds have their own conditions, and your date must satisfy both the notice period and the condition.

Ground	Extra condition	Effect on your date
1 and 1A	The tenancy must have begun at least 1 year before the date in question 2.1, counting both days	You may need more than 4 months' notice early in a tenancy. See the protected period
6	The tenancy must have begun at least 6 months before the date in question 2.1	Check the start date before serving
4A	The date in question 2.1 must fall between 1 June and 30 September	With 4 months' notice, serve between 1 February and 30 May
5G	The date must be no more than 12 months after the council's notification	Don't leave it too late
7	Proceedings must begin within 12 months of the tenant's death	Serve early enough to issue in time
7A	The notice must be served within 12 months of the conviction or finding, or 3 months for a closure order	A service deadline, not a notice period

What changed on 1 May 2026

The Renters' Rights Act notice period rules replaced the old ones for every private assured tenancy, including tenancies that started before May 2026:

• The table in section 8(4AA) replaced the old sections 8(4A) and 8(4B).
• The old requirement that, on a periodic tenancy, the date couldn't be earlier than a notice to quit could have ended the tenancy (in practice, the end of a rental period) was repealed.
• A transitional 2-month period for Ground 4A notices on existing tenancies applied only to notices served between 1 May and 30 July 2026. It is 4 months now.

Notices served before 1 May 2026 followed the old rules, but they could only be used if the claim was started by 31 July 2026.

What to do next

Once you know your earliest date, check the other end of the notice's life: you must start court proceedings within 12 months of service. Our guide on how long a Section 8 notice is valid explains the deadline. When you're ready, ValidNotice calculates both dates for your grounds and service method and fills them into Form 3A. Return to the Section 8 notice guide for the full process.