Recovering possession

Introduction

Some tenancies come to a natural end; for example, when the tenant decides to move.

Returning the deposit

If the tenant serves a notice to end the tenancy, you'll usually need to agree the amount of the tenancy deposit to return to the tenant (see Returning the tenancy deposit), and prepare the property for letting to new tenants (if applicable).

Recovering possession

If you want to end the tenancy to regain possession of the property, you'll need to serve notice on the tenant (depending on the procedure or grounds for possession you're using). If the tenant doesn't leave after you've served a valid legal notice, you'll have to apply through the courts for an order for possession (to evict the tenant).

Whatever the circumstances and grounds for seeking possession, you mustn't attempt to evict the tenant yourself; you must let the courts do this on your behalf. If you take the law into your own hands, you could incur heavy fines and/or face criminal proceedings. You mustn't:

• Forcibly evict or remove a tenant from a property
• Harass a tenant in any way, including:
• Removing the tenant's belongings from the property
• Shutting off services (gas, electricity, water)
• Changing the locks while the tenant is away from the property

The guidance in this section will help you successfully, and legally, end a tenancy and regain possession of your property.

This section covers the steps to take depending on the type of tenancy, procedure or grounds you're using and where the property is located.

England

Assured periodic tenancies

Since 1 May 2026, all existing shorthold tenancies automatically became assured periodic tenancies.

You can seek possession of an assured periodic tenancy if the grounds set out in section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 apply.

Some of the more common grounds used in a section 8 notice are:

• The landlord (or a member of their family) wants to move into the property
• The landlord wants to sell the property
• There are rent arrears

Assured shorthold tenancies

Landlords who had an assured shorthold tenancy and served a valid section 21 or section 8 notice on their tenant before 1 May, have until 31 July 2026 to start a possession claim using either:

• The accelerated procedure under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988. See Accelerated possession procedure); or
• One of the grounds under section 8 Housing Act 1988. See Recovering possession under section 8. The most common ground used in a section 8 notice is rent arrears. See Rent arrears possession procedure.

It's recommended to use an accelerated procedure (assuming that you've served a valid section 21 notice) and all you need is possession (i.e. you don't need something else as well, such as an order to recover rent arrears from the tenant - if you use the accelerated procedure and have rent arrears, you'll have to bring a separate claim for the rent in the county court).

If you have to rely on any of the section 8 grounds to regain possession, getting an order for possession could take longer, particularly if the tenant defends the order.

Scotland

• See Tenancy approaching termination date (short assured tenancies) where you may be able to use the tenancy approaching its agreed termination date (rather than rent arrears or other grounds for possession)
• See Overview- Recovering possession in Scotland

Northern Ireland

• See Overview – Recovering possession in NI for the steps to follow to end a tenancy for rent arrears or any breach of the tenancy agreement.