If your tenant is behind with the rent, the notice to serve is a Section 8 notice on Form 3A, citing the rent grounds. Which grounds you cite, and how much is owed on the day the notice is served, decide how strong your case is.
The form is free. Serving it right is the hard part: see what PostRight checks
Serve a Section 8 notice for rent arrearsGround 8 is the strongest. If the tenant owes at least three months' rent (thirteen weeks if rent is weekly) on the day the notice is served, and still owes that much at the hearing, the court must order possession. Rent that is unpaid only because the tenant's Universal Credit housing payment has not arrived is left out of the count.
Ground 10 covers any rent that is owed on the day the notice is served. Ground 11 covers a tenant who keeps paying late, even if nothing is owed today. With these two the court decides whether possession is reasonable.
Most landlords cite all three. Ground 8 gives the court no choice if the arrears hold up; Grounds 10 and 11 keep the claim going if the tenant pays some of the arrears before the hearing.
Four weeks. The notice shows the date after which you can apply to court. PostRight works that date out from the day the notice is posted, the four-week period and a margin for delivery. The notice lasts twelve months; if you have not applied to court by then, you serve a new one.
The deposit must be protected in a government scheme, with the deposit paperwork given to the tenant. The tenant must have been given an address in England or Wales where notices can be served on you; if not, the rent grounds cannot be used until that is done. And if the tenant is in a Breathing Space under the debt respite scheme, the rent grounds need the court's permission.
The wizard asks about all three and stops if one is missing, so you find out before you pay rather than at the hearing.
Form 3A is free to download from GOV.UK. PostRight fills it in from your answers, works out the notice period and the date in the notice, prints it, posts a copy to each tenant by Royal Mail Tracked 24, and emails you a certificate of service (court form N215) and a statement of posting once it has gone. From £29.99 for the first tenant. A solicitor charges from about £350 to draft and serve the same notice.
PostRight is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. You choose the grounds and confirm the facts; the notice is prepared from what you tell us.
