How much rent arrears before you can evict? Ground 8, and what happens when the tenant pays some of it off

In England, Ground 8, Ground 10 and Ground 11 are Housing Act 1988 possession grounds, and the figures below are for assured tenancies after the 1 May 2026 Renters’ Rights Act changes. The key practical point is that Ground 8 is mandatory only while the arrears stay over the statutory line; Grounds 10 and 11 are discretionary fallbacks.

How much rent arrears do you need before you can evict?

For a private assured tenancy in England from 1 May 2026, mandatory Ground 8 rent arrears normally needs at least 3 months’ unpaid rent if rent is monthly, or 13 weeks’ unpaid rent if rent is weekly or fortnightly, both when the Section 8 notice is served and when the court hears the claim. GOV.UK’s landlord guidance states: “You can use this ground to evict your tenant if they owe you at least 3 months’ rent, if they pay rent monthly or at least 13 weeks’ rent, if the rent is paid weekly or fortnightly.” That answers how many months of unpaid rent before eviction under the mandatory ground: two months behind is no longer enough for most private tenancies after 1 May 2026, although non-payment of rent can still support discretionary Grounds 10 and 11. Abodient can track rent due against rent received and show arrears across a portfolio, which matters because Ground 8 turns on the arrears figure at notice and again at court. Social-housing assured tenancies stay on the old 2-month monthly threshold until the 2027 change applies.

What actually counts as rent arrears?

Rent arrears for Ground 8 means rent lawfully due from the tenant, and the statutory wording is broader than a missed standing order but narrower than every debt connected with the property. The Housing Act 1988 says that for Ground 8, “rent” means “rent lawfully due from the tenant,” so the starting point is the tenancy obligation, not the tenant’s cash-flow explanation. Shelter Legal says that where the tenancy agreement provides for them, “additional charges, such as water charges, service charges and council tax, these charges can count as rent.” Universal Credit needs care: GOV.UK’s tenant guidance says benefits are not counted, but the statute only ignores a Universal Credit housing amount that is unpaid because the tenant has not yet received the award; a genuine shortfall after the benefit position is settled still counts as unpaid rent. That distinction is what separates temporary benefit delay from serious rent arrears.

What happens if the tenant pays some of the arrears off before the hearing?

If the tenant pays enough before the hearing to fall below the Ground 8 threshold, the mandatory Ground 8 claim fails, even if the arrears were high enough when the Section 8 notice was served. GOV.UK states: “Your tenant cannot be evicted under this ground if they pay off what they owe or owe less than the amounts above by the time you get to court.” That means a tenant can defeat Ground 8 by reducing the arrears below 3 months or 13 weeks before court, but it does not automatically wipe out the whole possession case if Grounds 10 or 11 were also pleaded. A Ground 8 hearing should not usually be adjourned just to let the tenant pay down below the line: the Court of Appeal held that doing so “may only be exercised in exceptional circumstances.” A token payment every few months is not a magic reset; what matters for Ground 8 is whether the arrears are still over the threshold on the hearing day.

What can you do if the arrears fall short of Ground 8 - Grounds 10 and 11?

Ground 10 is tested when the claim is issued, not at the hearing, unlike Ground 8 — so it can succeed after Ground 8 fails on quantum. Ground 10 covers rent that “is unpaid on the date on which the proceedings for possession are begun,” and it has no 3-month or 13-week minimum; Shelter Legal is wrong where it says Ground 10 needs arrears at the hearing. Ground 11 is different again: it covers persistent delay, “whether or not any rent is in arrears on the date on which proceedings for possession are begun,” so consistent late payment can be enough if the court considers possession reasonable. Grounds 10 and 11 are discretionary Part II grounds, so the court “may make an order for possession if it considers it reasonable to do so,” and it can make a suspended order with payment conditions rather than immediate possession. Wales uses discretionary breach-of-contract instead of Grounds 10 and 11; Scotland’s private-tenancy rent-arrears ground covers any shortfall for three consecutive months; Northern Ireland has no Housing Act 1988 arrears grounds.

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• GOV.UK, grounds for possession guidance for landlords and letting agents — “You can use this ground to evict your tenant if they owe you at least 3 months’ rent, if they pay rent monthly or at least 13 weeks’ rent, if the rent is paid weekly or fortnightly.” Source
• The Assured Tenancies and Agricultural Occupancies (Forms) (England) Regulations 2026, commencement provision — “The following provisions of the 2025 Act, in so far as not already in force, come into force on 1st May 2026 for the purposes of assured tenancies that are not social housing assured tenancies(1) only—” Source
• Housing Act 1988 Schedule 2, Ground 8, version in force before 1 May 2026 — “(b)if rent is payable monthly, at least two months’ rent is unpaid;” Source
• Housing Act 1988 Schedule 2, Ground 8 — “and for the purpose of this ground ‘rent’ means rent lawfully due from the tenant.” Source
• Renters’ Rights Act 2025 Schedule 1 — “When calculating how much rent is unpaid for the purpose of this ground, if the tenant is entitled to receive an amount for housing as part of an award of universal credit under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012, any amount that was unpaid only because the tenant had not yet received the payment of that award is to be ignored.” Source
• GOV.UK, grounds for possession guidance for tenants — “If you owe 3 months or 13 weeks rent because you have not received Universal Credit, your landlord cannot evict you as benefits are not counted.” Source
• Shelter Legal, rent arrears possession — “When the tenancy agreement provides for the payment of additional charges, such as water charges, service charges and council tax, these charges can count as rent.” Source
• GOV.UK, grounds for possession guidance for landlords and letting agents — “Your tenant cannot be evicted under this ground if they pay off what they owe or owe less than the amounts above by the time you get to court.” Source
• North British Housing Association Ltd v Matthews [2004] EWCA Civ 1736 — “We hold that the power to adjourn a hearing date for the purpose of enabling a tenant to reduce the arrears to below the ground 8 threshold may only be exercised in exceptional circumstances.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 Schedule 2, Ground 10 — “(a)is unpaid on the date on which the proceedings for possession are begun; and” Source
• Housing Act 1988 Schedule 2, Ground 11 — “Whether or not any rent is in arrears on the date on which proceedings for possession are begun, the tenant has persistently delayed paying rent which has become lawfully due.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 section 7 — “If the court is satisfied that any of the grounds in Part II of Schedule 2 to this Act is established, then, subject to subsections (5A) and (6) below, the court may make an order for possession if it considers it reasonable to do so.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 section 8 — “The court shall not make an order for possession on any of the grounds in Schedule 2 to this Act unless that ground and particulars of it are specified in the notice under this section; but the grounds specified in such a notice may be altered or added to with the leave of the court.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 section 157 — “If the contract-holder under an occupation contract breaches the contract, the landlord may on that ground make a possession claim.” Source
• Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 Schedule 3 paragraph 12 — “It is an eviction ground that the tenant has been in rent arrears for three or more consecutive months.” Source
• mygov.scot, private residential tenancy eviction grounds — “You cannot use this ground if your tenant has not paid their rent.” Source
• nidirect, private rent and tenancies — “A landlord must always provide the tenant with a written notice to quit, except in the case of a fixed term tenancy.” Source