Eviction Rights UK: What to Do If You Get an Eviction Notice

If you rent from a private landlord it will usually be an assured periodic tenancy. It runs on a rolling basis, for example weekly or monthly, and cannot have an end date.

Your landlord must use the correct forms and give the correct amount of notice. This is usually 4 months but it can be shorter for some grounds. A notice to leave given from 1 May 2026 is a section 8 notice and should be on Form 3A. The notice must give a ground for possession, and the amount of notice depends on the ground your landlord has used.

On mandatory grounds (1 to 8) the court must grant possession if the ground is proved. On discretionary grounds (9 to 17) the court can decide whether to grant possession even if the ground is proved. If your landlord uses both, the court first checks whether the mandatory grounds are proved.

Your landlord cannot ask you to leave within the first 12 months of a new tenancy because they intend to sell or because they or a close family member intend to move in. They can give notice during those 12 months, but it cannot expire before the 12 months have ended.

Your landlord must protect your deposit in a government approved scheme within 30 days of receiving it. If they cannot show the court that they gave you the correct information or returned the deposit, they will not be able to get an order to evict you. They can still get an order if they originally gave notice using the antisocial behaviour grounds.

A social landlord can try to evict you for carrying out domestic abuse under Ground 14A, but only if your partner or a person living with you has left and is unlikely to come back. If your landlord is a council or housing association, the notice is normally at least 4 weeks or 4 months, depending on the type of tenancy. They can start proceedings immediately for serious antisocial behaviour such as drug-dealing, and for most tenancies they must tell you why they plan to evict you.

If you live in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, your landlord must follow different procedures to evict you. In Wales, section 173 of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 lets the landlord under a periodic standard contract end it by giving notice of a date to give up possession, and the date may not be less than six months after the notice is given.

The Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 commenced on 1 December 2017 and introduced the private residential tenancy. It is open-ended and lasts until you wish to leave or your landlord uses one or more of 18 grounds for eviction.

• ✓Yes: Your landlord can only end your tenancy by using one of the grounds for eviction, and must tell you which ground or grounds they are using in a Notice to Leave
• ✓Yes: You must be given at least 28 days' notice if you have lived in the property for six months or less, whatever ground your landlord is using
• ✓Yes: If you have lived there more than six months, you must be given at least 84 days' notice, unless your landlord relies only on grounds that always carry 28 days: you no longer occupy the property, you have breached the tenancy, you owe three consecutive months' rent or more, you have a relevant criminal conviction, you have engaged in relevant antisocial behaviour, or you associate with someone who has
• ✓Yes: If you do not move out as soon as the notice period ends, your landlord can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an eviction order, and can only apply if it has been less than six months since the notice expired
• ✓Yes: All eviction grounds are discretionary, so the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) can take all circumstances into account when deciding whether it is reasonable to grant an eviction order

If your landlord tries to persuade or force you to leave without following the correct legal process, they could be carrying out an illegal eviction, which is a criminal offence in Scotland.

Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 allowed a landlord to evict a tenant without giving any reason, after at least 2 months' notice.

If your landlord gave you a section 21 notice before 1 May 2026, it is too late for them to use it to apply to court if they have not done so already. The deadline for starting the court process was the earlier of the time remaining on the notice and 31 July 2026. If your landlord applied to court on or before 31 July 2026, you can check whether the notice was valid.

For a section 21 notice, your landlord must have:

• ✓Yes: given you at least 2 months' notice to leave before applying to the court for a possession order
• ✓Yes: started court proceedings in time
• ✓Yes: given you the notice more than 4 months after you moved in
• ✓Yes: used Form 6A when giving notice, or a form which contains the same information
• ✓Yes: given you a valid gas safety certificate, if there is a gas supply at the property (for tenancies granted on or after 1 October 2015)
• ✓Yes: given you an energy performance certificate (for tenancies granted on or after 1 October 2015)
• ✓Yes: given you the How to rent guide (for tenancies granted on or after 1 October 2015)
• ✓Yes: protected your deposit, where one was taken, in a government approved deposit protection scheme or returned it, and given you the required information
• ✓Yes: obtained or applied for a licence if the property needed one
• ✓Yes: returned the fees that they were not allowed to charge you

There were also restrictions on your landlord regaining possession under section 21 if they were served with an improvement notice or emergency remedial action notice in the six months before they served a section 21 notice.

A section 21 notice dated on or after 1 May 2026 cannot be used to evict you. If your landlord gives written notice that they need you to leave your home, you can get free legal advice from the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service.

See also the section 21 guide and the Renters' Rights Act 2025 guide.

A counterclaim is when you tell the court that your landlord has broken the law or not followed the rules, for example if your tenancy deposit was not protected, repairs were not made or your landlord has discriminated against you. If you make a counterclaim you will need to pay a fee.

A judge can add a money judgment to any possession order, which usually means you owe a specific amount made up of your rent arrears, court fees and your landlord's legal costs.

If you show proof to the judge that you are in an exceptionally difficult situation, you may be able to delay the date you have to leave by up to 6 weeks.

You can apply to suspend a warrant of possession, but the judge will not automatically agree. A warrant can usually only be suspended if the order was made using discretionary grounds. You can only appeal if you can show the judge made mistakes in the original possession hearing, and you have 21 days from the date the judge made the possession order to file a notice of appeal.

You can get help and advice from your local council if you are homeless or about to lose your home. There is a different way to get help in Scotland and in Northern Ireland. The rest of this section covers England.

Under section 175 of the Housing Act 1996 you are threatened with homelessness if it is likely that you will become homeless within 56 days. You are also threatened with homelessness if a valid section 8 notice has been given for the only accommodation you have available and the notice will expire within 56 days.

• ✓Yes: If you are homeless or threatened with homelessness and eligible, the council must assess your case and notify you in writing, then try to agree with you the steps each of you will take, recording any agreement in writing
• ✓Yes: If you are threatened with homelessness and eligible, the council must take reasonable steps to help you keep your accommodation, and if you are homeless and eligible it must take reasonable steps to help you secure suitable accommodation
• ✓Yes: If the council has reason to believe you may be homeless, eligible and in priority need, it must secure that accommodation is available for you, and if it is satisfied you are not intentionally homeless it must go on to secure accommodation once its first duty has ended

A pregnant woman, a person with whom dependent children reside, a person who is vulnerable as a result of old age, mental illness or handicap or physical disability or other special reason, a person homeless as a result of an emergency such as flood, fire or other disaster, and a person homeless as a victim of domestic abuse have a priority need for accommodation.

You become homeless intentionally if you deliberately do, or fail to do, something that makes you stop occupying accommodation that is available to you and that it would have been reasonable for you to keep.

You have the right to ask the council for a review of decisions about what duty it owes you. If you are dissatisfied with the review decision, you can appeal to the county court on a point of law, within 21 days of being told the decision.

Your landlord may be guilty of illegal eviction if you are not given the notice to leave that they must give you, you find the locks have been changed, or you are evicted without a court order.

Harassment can include:

• ✓Yes: Stopping services, like electricity
• ✓Yes: Withholding keys, for example when there are 2 tenants in a property but the landlord will only give 1 key
• ✓Yes: Refusing to carry out repairs that are the landlord's responsibility
• ✓Yes: Antisocial behaviour by someone on the landlord's behalf
• ✓Yes: Threats and physical violence
• ✓Yes: Threatening to change the locks
• ✓Yes: Opening or taking post
• ✓Yes: Stopping access to temperature control

If your landlord does not follow the rules, you may have the right to be let back into your home, claim compensation, or apply for a rent repayment order. Local councils can prosecute landlords or give a fine of up to £40,000 if they harass or illegally evict someone. Talk to your local council if you think you are being harassed or threatened with illegal eviction.

Under section 1(3A) of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, a landlord or their agent is guilty of an offence if they do acts likely to interfere with the peace or comfort of the occupier, or persistently withdraw or withhold services reasonably required for the occupation of the premises, and they know or have reasonable cause to believe that this is likely to cause the occupier to give up the premises or not to exercise a right. On conviction on indictment the penalty is a fine or imprisonment for up to 2 years, or both.

Under sections 27 and 28 of the Housing Act 1988, a landlord who unlawfully deprives you of your home is liable to pay damages in tort. The damages are the difference between the value of the landlord's interest in the building if you still had the right to occupy and its value if you had not, on the assumption of a sale on the open market to a willing buyer. No such liability arises if you are reinstated in the premises, including where at your request a court makes an order, whether in the nature of an injunction or otherwise, that reinstates you.

You could also contact a legal adviser or Citizens Advice.