If you got an eviction notice before 1 December 2022
This advice applies to Wales. See advice for See advice for England, See advice for Northern Ireland, See advice for Scotland
If your local council or housing association has sent you a notice to evict you, it's called a ‘notice seeking possession’. You won’t have to leave your home straight away.
If you’re still there on the date they want you to leave, your landlord will usually have to go to court to start the eviction process. There are lots of steps they must follow before they can evict you.
If you don't leave your home and your landlord takes you to court, you might have to pay their court costs as well as court fees. This can be expensive.
Renting rules in Wales changed on 1 December 2022
This means:
your tenancy automatically turned into an ‘occupation contract’
the kind of eviction notice your landlord can give you changed
You can find out more about how the Welsh renting rules changed.
If you got your notice on or after 1 December 2022
Check it says ‘RHW’ with a number at the top. If it does, you can find out what to do if you’ve got an eviction notice.
If it doesn’t have RHW with a number at the top, it’s not valid - your landlord should have given you a different type of notice.
Check if your notice is valid
Your landlord should have sent you the correct notice - the rules depend on what kind of tenancy you had before 1 December 2022. This is when most tenancies were converted to ‘occupation contracts’.
You should also check if your notice has any other mistakes on it - like the wrong address or name.
Talk to an adviser if you're not sure what tenancy type you had or if you need help checking your notice.
If you were a secure tenant
Your landlord should have given you notice in writing.
The notice must:
say why your landlord wants you to leave - the reason they’re using to evict you and why
say the date after which they can start the court process - they must give you the right amount of notice, depending on when they send you the notice seeking possession
be written on the correct form
Whether your notice is valid can also depend on:
if your landlord has already made a ‘possession claim’
the date you got it
A possession claim is legal action that your landlord must take if they want to make you leave your home.
If your landlord has already made a possession claim
If your notice was valid before 1 December it’s still valid now. There’s no time limit on how long the possession claim might take.
If your landlord hasn’t made a possession claim
If the date on your notice is less than 12 months ago, it’s valid until 1 June 2023. If your landlord still wants to evict you after that, they’ll have to give you a new notice and start the process again.
If you got your notice more than 12 months ago, it’s not valid. Your landlord should have started the court eviction process within 12 months of the date on the notice. If your landlord still wants to evict you, they’ll have to give you a new notice and start the process again.
Check how much notice your landlord should have given you
Your landlord should have given you:
3 months’ notice if they asked you to leave between 26 March and 28 September 2020
at least 6 months notice if they asked you to leave between 29 September 2020 and 24 March 2022 - unless you were accused of domestic abuse (you’ll get 4 weeks’ notice) or anti-social behaviour (they can ask you to leave immediately)
at least 4 weeks' notice if they asked you to leave on or after 25 March 2022
If you’re being evicted for anti-social behaviour
Your landlord might be able to start the court process immediately. Talk to an adviser for help if you’re being evicted for anti-social behaviour.
You should always mention if there are mistakes in your notice. In some cases, the court might decide that the case can go ahead anyway.
If the notice says your landlord wants to evict you under ‘section 84a’
Your landlord doesn’t need to use the same form.
If you got your notice seeking possession on or after 26 March 2020 and before 29 August 2020, your landlord had to give you 3 months’ notice.
If you got your notice seeking possession on or after 29 August 2020, your landlord had to give you at least 28 days' notice. If the time between when your rent payments are due is longer than 28 days, your landlord had to give you that much notice. The notice must expire either on the day before or on the same day you pay your rent.
They need to tell you:
why they’re evicting you - they can only do this in limited circumstances
that you can ask for a review and the deadline for asking for a review
that you can get help from Citizens Advice, a housing aid centre, law centre or solicitor
If you were an introductory or demoted council tenant
Your landlord should have given you notice in writing.
Your council should have told you:
why they’re asking you to leave
the date after which they can start the court process - they must give you the right amount of notice, depending on when they send you the notice seeking possession
that you can ask for a review and the deadline for asking for a review
that they will ask the court to issue a ‘possession order’ which asks you to leave your home - find out more about possession orders
that you can get help from Citizens Advice, a housing aid centre, law centre or solicitor
Whether your notice is valid can also depend on:
if your landlord has already made a ‘possession claim’
the date you got it
A possession claim is legal action that your landlord must take if they want to make you leave your home.
If your landlord has already made a possession claim
If your notice was valid before 1 December it’s still valid now. There’s no time limit on how long the possession claim might take.
If your landlord hasn’t made a possession claim
If the date on your notice is less than 12 months ago, it’s valid until 1 June 2023. If your landlord still wants to evict you after that, they’ll have to give you a new notice and start the process again.
If you got your notice more than 12 months ago, it’s not valid. Your landlord should have started the court eviction process within 12 months of the date on the notice. If your landlord still wants to evict you, they’ll have to give you a new notice and start the process again.
Check how much notice your landlord should have given you
Your landlord should have given you:
3 months’ notice if they asked you to leave between 26 March and 28 September 2020
at least 6 months' notice if they asked you to leave between 29 September 2020 and 24 March 2022 - but if it’s because you were accused of anti-social behaviour you’ll get 4 weeks’ notice
at least 4 weeks' notice if they asked you to leave on or after 25 March 2022
If you were an assured tenant
The housing association should have given you notice in writing - it’s called a section 8 notice or a ‘notice seeking possession’.
The notice must say:
why they’re asking you to leave - this includes the reasons and an explanation of why
the date after which they can start the court process - this depends on when and why you’re being evicted
be in the correct form - check form 3 on the government legislation website
You should always mention if there are mistakes in your notice. In some cases, the court might decide that the case can go ahead anyway.
Check why you can be evicted with a section 8 notice.
Whether your notice is valid can also depend on:
if your landlord has already made a ‘possession claim’
the date you got it
A possession claim is legal action that your landlord must take if they want to make you leave your home.
If your landlord has already made a possession claim
If your notice was valid before 1 December it’s still valid now. There’s no time limit on how long the possession claim might take.
If your landlord hasn’t made a possession claim
If the date on your notice is less than 12 months ago, it’s valid until 1 June 2023. If your landlord still wants to evict you after that, they’ll have to give you a new ‘with grounds’ notice and start the process again.
If you got your notice more than 12 months ago, it’s not valid. Your landlord should have started the court eviction process within 12 months of the date on the notice. If your landlord still wants to evict you, they’ll have to give you a new ‘with grounds’ notice and start the process again.
If you were a starter or assured shorthold tenant
Your landlord should have given you notice in writing - usually a ‘section 21’ notice. They could have given you a ‘section 8’ notice instead - this will include different things.
If you got a section 21 notice before 1 December 2022
Your section 21 notice must be in writing.
You can check how much notice your landlord needs to give you when they give you a section 21 notice.
Check if your landlord can evict you without a court hearing
Your landlord might be able to evict you without a court hearing - this is called ‘accelerated possession’.
They need to apply to the court to do this - you’ll receive a copy of their application if they do. You’ll also receive a defence form - you can use this to challenge the eviction.
Your landlord can’t use an accelerated possession to evict you if you have:
a demoted assured shorthold tenancy
an assured shorthold tenancy that began before 28 February 1997
a verbal tenancy agreement - for example you’ve never had a written tenancy agreement
If you got a section 8 notice before 1 December 2022
The housing association should have given you notice in writing - it’s called a section 8 notice or a ‘notice seeking possession’.
Your notice must say:
why they’re asking you to leave - this includes the reasons and an explanation of why
the date after which they can start the court process - this depends on when and why you’re being evicted
be written on the correct form - check form 3 on the government legislation website
You should always mention if there are mistakes in your notice. In some cases, the court might decide that the case can go ahead anyway.
Check why you can be evicted with a section 8 notice.
Whether your notice is still valid can also depend on:
if your landlord has already made a ‘possession claim’
when you got it
A possession claim is legal action that your landlord must take if they want to make you leave your home.
If your landlord has already made a possession claim
If your notice was valid before 1 December it’s still valid now. There’s no time limit on how long the possession claim might take.
If your landlord hasn’t made a possession claim
If the date on your notice is less than 12 months ago, it’s valid until 1 June 2023. If your landlord still wants to evict you after that, they’ll have to give you a new notice and start the process again.
If you got your notice more than 12 months ago, it’s not valid. Your landlord should have started the court eviction process within 12 months of the date on the notice. If your landlord still wants to evict you, they’ll have to give you a new notice and start the process again.
If you were a demoted housing association tenant
Your landlord should have given you notice in writing - this is called a section 21 notice.
Check what your section 21 notice should include.
They need to apply to the court to do this - you’ll receive a copy of their application if they do. You’ll also receive a defence form - you can use this to challenge the eviction.
If your notice isn't valid
Your landlord will usually have to give you a new, valid notice if they still want you to leave your home. This will mean you have more time in your home. If you’re being evicted for a specific reason, it’s worth using the extra time to sort out the problem.
Your landlord will have to start the court process if you haven’t left your home by the date on your notice. You’ll get court papers and a defence form which you can use to challenge the eviction. Explain why the notice isn’t valid. Get help filling in the defence form.
Sometimes the court might go ahead with the case even if the notice isn’t valid. This depends on the type of tenancy and the circumstances. If you think the notice isn’t valid you should talk to an adviser.
If your notice is valid
Your landlord can’t usually make you leave your home until they’ve gone to court to get a possession order and a warrant for eviction. It’s important that you keep paying your rent.
If they’ve applied to the court for ‘accelerated possession’, there won’t usually be a court hearing - unless you challenge the eviction.
You’ll get court papers when your landlord applies to court. You can challenge your landlord’s eviction claim when you get the court papers.
If it goes to court, the court could also order you to pay your landlord's court fees if you're evicted - these can be expensive.
If you’ve got a section 21 notice
A ‘possession claim’ is legal action that your landlord must take if they want to make you leave your home.
Your landlord has to make a possession claim by 1 February 2023. If they don’t do it by then, they’ll have to give you a new notice and start the process again.
If you decide to leave your home before the date on your notice
Don’t leave your home before the date on your notice if you haven’t found somewhere else to live.
If you leave your home before the court makes a possession order, it might affect what help your local council can offer you. Find out more about possession orders.
Your council might have a legal duty to help find you accommodation - talk to an adviser.
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