Section 8 Ground 1A: Selling Your Rental Property Under the Renters' Rights Act

Selling is the single most common reason small landlords leave the sector, and since Phase 1 of the Renters' Rights Act came into force on 1 May 2026, there is now a specific possession ground for landlords who want to sell with vacant possession. That ground is Ground 1A, inserted into Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 by Schedule 1 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025. It sits alongside Ground 1 (moving in yourself or housing family) and Ground 6 (redevelopment) as the third route a private landlord can use to recover a property they actually need back.

This guide walks through how Ground 1A works in practice — when you can use it, when you can't, what the court will expect to see, and what happens to your right to re-let if the sale falls through.

TL;DR: Ground 1A in five sentences

Ground 1A is a new mandatory possession ground that lets a private landlord recover an assured tenancy in order to sell the property. You cannot serve a Ground 1A notice in the first 12 months of the tenancy — there is a protected period for the tenant at the start. Once that protected period has passed, you must give the tenant at least four months' written notice on the prescribed form before applying to the court. After possession is recovered using Ground 1 or 1A, you cannot re-let or remarket the property for 12 months, with limited exceptions, or you face a financial penalty of up to £40,000. Social landlords and most assured non-shorthold (pre-1 May 2026) tenancies are excluded from using this ground.

What does Ground 1A actually say?

The statute is short and worth reading verbatim — it's the single document a judge will hold you to.

The drafting matters. Three conditions every private landlord needs to internalise are: the intention to sell (or grant a 21+ year lease), the one-year tenancy floor before the relevant date, and the exclusion of social landlords. The full text is at legislation.gov.uk.

When can a landlord first use Ground 1A?

The most important practical rule for small landlords is the 12-month protected period at the start of every new tenancy. Ground 1A cannot be used to recover possession until the tenancy has been running for at least a year, measured to the "relevant date" — which for Ground 1A means the date specified in the section 8 notice you serve on the tenant. The statute is explicit that both the day the tenancy began and the relevant date count, so the maths is inclusive.

In plain terms: if a tenancy begins on 1 June 2026, the earliest "relevant date" you can put on a Ground 1A notice is 1 June 2027. Because the notice itself must give four months, you cannot serve that notice before early February 2027. The Government's grounds-for-possession guidance for landlords confirms the position bluntly: a landlord will not be able to ask a tenant to leave on Ground 1A within the first 12 months of a new tenancy.

The Renters' Rights Act gives every tenant a guaranteed 12 months of stability at the start. Ground 1A only opens once that year has passed — and you still owe four months' notice after that.

How much notice does a landlord have to give on Ground 1A?

Four months. That is set out in the Government's grounds-for-possession landlord guidance, which states a landlord must give four months' notice before applying to the court for a possession order under Ground 1A. The notice is served on the prescribed section 8 form, must cite Ground 1A specifically, and must specify the relevant date after which possession proceedings can begin.

If the tenant does not leave by the relevant date, the landlord has to apply to the county court for a possession order — the notice itself does not end the tenancy. Practically, that means a Ground 1A timeline from "I want to sell" to "keys back" typically runs to at least 12 months from the start of the tenancy, then four months' notice, then court time on top.

Ground 1A timeline at a glance

Which tenancies can Ground 1A be used on?

This is the area where small private landlords most often trip up. Ground 1A is available for assured tenancies under the post-1 May 2026 regime, but it is not available for everyone or every property.

• Private landlords with standard assured tenancies. Yes — this is the core use case.
• Pre-1 May 2026 assured non-shorthold ("lifetime") tenancies. No. The Government landlord guidance confirms private landlords cannot use Ground 1A where the tenant has an assured tenancy created before 1 May 2026 that was not an assured shorthold.
• Social landlords (housing associations, registered providers). No, until the Renters' Rights Act changes are extended to the social rented sector in 2027. The statute lists them explicitly under condition (d).
• Rent Act 1977 protected tenants and tied agricultural workers. No. Condition (b) carves these out entirely.

What evidence does the court expect for a Ground 1A possession claim?

Ground 1A is a mandatory ground, which means that if you prove the conditions, the court must grant possession — there is no discretion. But "prove the conditions" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. The single contested element is almost always condition (a): that the landlord genuinely intends to sell the freehold or leasehold interest (or grant a 21+ year lease).

The statute doesn't define "intends to sell", and there is no fixed evidence checklist. In practice, landlords using Ground 1A should be able to produce some combination of:

• An instruction letter or terms of engagement with an estate agent or auctioneer.
• A signed contract with a solicitor or licensed conveyancer for the sale work.
• Marketing materials or listing screenshots dated before or around the relevant date.
• Correspondence with a mortgage lender about redemption.
• For probate-related sales, a copy of the grant and the executors' decision to sell.

Falsely claiming an intention to sell is now a specific offence. Under the Renters' Rights Act enforcement framework, a landlord who "knowingly" uses a possession ground despite knowing a court would not order possession on it — or is reckless about that — and whose tenant leaves within four months without an order being made, faces a financial penalty of up to £40,000 as an alternative to prosecution.

What is the 12-month re-let ban after Ground 1A?

This is the provision most landlords have heard about but few have read carefully. After using Ground 1A (or Ground 1) to recover possession, a 12-month restricted period applies during which the landlord cannot re-let or remarket the property. The Government enforcement guidance makes the consequences clear: a financial penalty of up to £40,000 can be imposed for re-letting or remarketing within that 12-month window unless the landlord took all reasonable steps not to, or an exception applies.

Remarketing is defined broadly. It includes advertising the property online, instructing a letting agent, or telling someone the property is or may be available to let. Listing on Rightmove a fortnight after the tenant leaves "to test the market" while the sale stalls is exactly the conduct the restricted period is designed to catch.

When does the 12-month restricted period not apply?

The enforcement guidance lists the exceptions that disapply or shorten the restricted period:

• The landlord or a close family member moves in and uses the property as their only or main home.
• A licence to occupy is entered into where the licensee has agreed to buy the property or to take a lease of more than 21 years.
• The new lease being marketed or granted will be for more than 21 years.
• The court has made an order for possession of the property on a ground other than Ground 1 or 1A.

Notably, the sale falling through is not by itself an exception. If your buyer pulls out at week six, you cannot simply put the property back on the rental market. You are limited to selling to a different buyer, granting a long lease, or moving in yourself.

How does Ground 1A compare with Ground 1 and Ground 6?

If you are weighing up which possession route fits your situation, the three mandatory "I want my property back" grounds have distinct conditions.

For sale scenarios specifically, Ground 1A is the right route. Do not be tempted to use Ground 1 because you've heard it has fewer evidential hurdles — using a ground knowing the court would not grant possession on it is itself an offence.

Step-by-step: how to use Ground 1A properly

1. Check the tenancy date. Confirm the current tenancy began at least 12 months before the relevant date you intend to put on the section 8 notice. Both the start date and the relevant date count in the calculation.
2. Document your intention to sell. Instruct an agent or conveyancer in writing before serving notice. Keep the engagement letter, valuation, and any marketing brief.
3. Serve a section 8 notice on the prescribed form. Cite Ground 1A specifically, give at least four months between service and the relevant date, and serve it in line with the tenancy agreement's notice clause (and keep proof of service).
4. Wait out the notice period. Do not market the property for re-letting in the meantime — that is not the same as marketing it for sale, but the line gets blurred, so be careful.
5. Apply to the county court for a possession order if the tenant has not left by the relevant date. Ground 1A is mandatory, so provided the conditions are proved, possession will follow.
6. Treat the 12-month restricted period as a hard line. From the date possession is recovered, no advertising, no agent instructions, no re-letting — until either 12 months pass or a listed exception applies.

What if a landlord changes their mind after serving Ground 1A?

Nothing in the statute compels you to complete the sale. But if you serve Ground 1A, the tenant leaves, and then you decide to re-let instead, you are squarely inside the 12-month restricted period and exposed to a £40,000 financial penalty. The same applies if the sale falls through and you want to recoup income while you find a new buyer.

The safer route, if your circumstances change, is to negotiate with the existing tenant before they leave — for example, by withdrawing the notice and agreeing the tenancy continues. The Act does not penalise a landlord who decides not to proceed; it penalises one who uses a possession ground and then quietly does the thing the ground was supposed to prevent.

FAQ: Ground 1A and selling a tenanted property

Can a landlord use Ground 1A to sell with the tenant still in place? Ground 1A is specifically for recovering possession in order to sell. If a landlord wants to sell with the tenancy continuing — for example, to another buy-to-let investor — there is no need to use Ground 1A at all. The tenancy simply transfers to the new owner, who becomes the new landlord on the same terms.

Does Ground 1A apply to existing tenancies that started before 1 May 2026? For assured shorthold tenancies that converted into periodic assured tenancies under the Renters' Rights Act regime, Ground 1A is available subject to the 12-month protected period. For pre-May 2026 assured tenancies that were never shortholds (so-called "lifetime" assured tenancies), the Government landlord guidance confirms private landlords cannot use Ground 1A at all.

What happens if a sale falls through during the notice period? The notice does not become invalid automatically. If the tenant leaves on or after the relevant date, the 12-month restricted period still starts running. The landlord's options are to sell to a different buyer, grant a 21+ year lease, or use the property as their or a close family member's only or main home. Re-letting is not an option without risking a £40,000 financial penalty under the enforcement framework.

Can a landlord serve Ground 1A and Ground 1 in the same notice? A section 8 notice can rely on multiple grounds, but each ground stated must be one the landlord reasonably believes will be granted by the court. Stacking Ground 1A and Ground 1 "just in case" — when only one is genuinely intended — risks falling within the offence of using a ground without reasonably believing possession would be granted on it. Most small landlords are better off picking the ground that matches their actual plan.

Does a tenant get any compensation or help when Ground 1A is used? The Act does not require a landlord to pay compensation for using Ground 1A. The tenant's protections are structural: the 12-month protected period at the start of the tenancy, the four-month notice, the right to challenge the landlord's intention in court, and the 12-month re-let ban as a deterrent against misuse. Tenants who believe the ground has been used unlawfully can report the landlord to their local authority for enforcement.

A final word

Ground 1A is the cleanest tool a private landlord has for exiting the rental market under the new regime — but it is also the one with the longest paper-trail requirement and the sharpest tail in the form of the 12-month restricted period. Plan the timeline backwards from the relevant date, document your sale intention contemporaneously, and treat the 12 months after possession as genuinely off-limits for letting. If the facts of your situation are complicated — a partial sale, a family transfer, a probate disposal — get advice from a solicitor before serving notice. The cost of a one-hour consultation is dwarfed by the cost of a £40,000 financial penalty.