Section 8 Ground 1A: Landlord Selling Property Explained

Section 8 Ground 1A is a new mandatory possession ground introduced by the Renters' Rights Act 2025, effective from 1 May 2026. It is inserted into Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 and allows a landlord to seek possession of a privately rented property specifically in order to sell it.

Before 1 May 2026, landlords who needed vacant possession to sell routinely relied on Section 21 no-fault notices. Section 21 has now been abolished for most private tenancies in England. Ground 1A is its direct replacement for sale purposes — giving landlords a legally supported route to possession that does not require the tenant to be at fault.

Because Ground 1A is a mandatory ground, once the landlord proves the ground at the court hearing, the judge must grant a possession order. There is no judicial discretion to refuse based on the tenant's personal circumstances.

Ground 1A can be used any time a landlord has a genuine intention to sell the property, subject to two conditions being satisfied when the Section 8 notice is served:

Ground 1A does not require the landlord to have already listed the property for sale when the notice is served, but the stronger the evidence of selling intention at the point of service, the less scope there is for the tenant to challenge the claim at court.

For landlords unsure which ground applies to their situation, our Section 8 Grounds Guide covers all Schedule 2 grounds with plain-English explanations.

Ground 1A carries the longest notice period of any rent-related Section 8 ground: a minimum of four calendar months from the date the Form 3A notice is served on the tenant.

This is significantly longer than most other grounds:

Our Section 8 Notice Generator automatically calculates the correct four-month expiry date from the service date you enter.

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 introduced a 12-month protected periodthat applies to both Ground 1A and Ground 1 (owner occupation). Landlords cannot serve a Section 8 notice using either ground within the first 12 months of the tenancy.

The 12 months runs from the commencement date of the tenancy — the date the tenancy agreement began, not the date the tenant moved in if different. If the original fixed term has expired and the tenancy has rolled into a periodic tenancy, the 12 months still counts from the original start date.

Serving a Ground 1A notice within the 12-month protected period makes the notice defective. The court will refuse the possession claim.

Unlike arrears grounds where a rent account statement speaks for itself, Ground 1A requires the landlord to convince the court that the selling intention is genuine. Courts are alert to landlords using Ground 1A as a pretext to evict an inconvenient tenant without a real intention to sell.

See the government's official guidance on evicting tenants for the full court process following service of a Section 8 notice.

Grounds in Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 are divided into mandatory and discretionary. For mandatory grounds, the court must grant possession if the landlord proves the ground — the judge cannot take into account the tenant's personal circumstances, length of residence, or hardship.

Ground 1A was deliberately designed as mandatory because the Renters' Rights Act 2025 recognised that landlords must have a reliable, predictable route to sell their investment property. Without a mandatory ground for sale, the abolition of Section 21 would have left selling landlords entirely at the mercy of judicial discretion.