Rent Arrears — What Landlords Can Do

Step 1 — Contact the tenant early

As soon as rent is missed, contact the tenant in writing. Many arrears situations resolve quickly once the landlord makes contact — the tenant may have a direct debit issue, a banking problem, or be waiting on a benefit payment.

Keep a record of every communication. If the matter proceeds to court, a judge will want to see that you attempted to resolve the situation before issuing a notice. Tenant City's messaging feature keeps all landlord-tenant communications logged against the tenancy record.

Step 2 — Understand the arrears grounds

There are three Section 8 grounds that relate to rent arrears. Understanding them matters — Ground 8 is mandatory (the court must grant possession if the threshold is met at both notice and hearing), while Grounds 10 and 11 are discretionary:

Step 3 — Serve a Section 8 notice (Form 3A)

Once arrears reach the relevant threshold, serve a Section 8 notice on Form 3A. For Ground 8, the minimum notice period is 4 weeks. The notice must state the specific grounds being relied upon and the details of the arrears.

Since 1 May 2026, only Form 3A is valid for Section 8 notices — the old Form 3 is no longer accepted. Tenant City generates the correct form automatically.

Full guide to Section 8 notices and Form 3A →

Step 4 — Apply to court if the tenant does not leave

If the notice period expires and the tenant has not left or paid the arrears, apply to the county court for a possession order. The process is:

1. Apply online via the Possession Claim Online (PCOL) service or by paper using Form N5 and N119
2. The court sets a hearing date (typically 4–8 weeks)
3. At the hearing, the judge considers whether the ground is made out — for Ground 8, if 2 months' arrears remain, the order is mandatory
4. If the order is granted, the tenant is given a date to leave (commonly 14–28 days)
5. If they do not leave, apply for a warrant of possession — bailiffs enforce the eviction

The evidence you need — and how Tenant City builds it

At every stage — notice, court application, hearing — you need to be able to show the rent payment history cleanly. The court will ask: what was the agreed rent, when was it due, when was each payment made, and what is the current arrears balance?

Tenant City builds this evidence automatically:

• Complete payment log — every rent payment recorded with date and amount against the tenancy
• Running arrears balance — the platform tracks what is owed at any given date, which is exactly what you need for the Ground 8 threshold calculation
• Exportable history — payment history can be exported for your solicitor or court bundle
• Communication log — all messages sent via the platform are timestamped and stored, showing your attempts to resolve before issuing a notice
• Section 8 generation — Form 3A generated from the tenancy record with arrears details pre-filled, served via e-signature with a delivery audit trail

What about Universal Credit tenants?

If your tenant is on Universal Credit, the housing element is paid directly to the tenant (not the landlord) by default. If arrears reach 2 months, you can apply for an Alternative Payment Arrangement (APA) — this redirects the housing element directly to you as landlord.

Contact the DWP to request an APA via the Universal Credit Managed Payments service. This can significantly reduce arrears in cases where the tenant is on UC but not passing on the housing payment.

Section 21 is gone — documentation matters more than ever

Before the Renters' Rights Act, many landlords used Section 21 as a faster route to end a tenancy rather than proving arrears through Section 8. That option no longer exists.

Building clean rent records from the start of every tenancy — before any dispute arises — is the best way to protect yourself if arrears do occur. A court-ready payment history takes seconds to build in Tenant City and could be the difference between a successful Ground 8 claim and a hearing that falls apart.