Receiving a notice to quit

If you are in private rented accommodation and have an assured periodic tenancy agreement, your landlord must provide you with a formal notice to end the tenancy for you to leave the property.

The form of the notice will depend on the type of tenancy you have and the reason why your landlord is asking you to leave.

All tenancies in the private rented sector have been converted to assured periodic tenancies from 1 May 2026 under the Renters Rights Act 2025 (unless you were issued with a section 21 notice before this).  This Act abolished fixed term tenancies and section 21 notices, and sets out grounds that the landlord will have to evidence if they need to evict a tenant.

Find more information on the Renters Rights Act 2025 and what this means for private tenants in the  Guide to the Renters’ Rights Act.

Notice types

There are 2 types of notices:

Section 21 Notice – could only be issued before 1 May 2026

Before 1 May 2026, the landlord did not need to evidence any breach of tenancy agreement to issue a notice for you to leave. It is likely that you would have received a Section 21 notice in these circumstances.

You were unable to challenge a Section 21 notice and, as long as the notice was valid, possession would have been granted to the landlord.

If you were issued with a section 21 notice before 1 May 2026, this prevents your tenancy from converting from a fixed term agreement to an assured periodic tenancy. The landlord must act on the notice by 31 July 2026 by starting court proceedings.

Section 8 Notice

From 1 May 2026, the landlord can only issue a Section 8 notice to end your assured periodic tenancy.

Landlords can issue a section 8 notice for any of the following:

Mandatory Grounds – if evidenced, the court must award possession to the landlord

Ground number	Description	Notice period
1	The landlord required to property for occupation by the landlord or their family	4 months
1A	The landlord is selling the property	4 months
1B	Sale of a dwelling house under rent-to-buy	4 months
2	Sale by mortgage lender	4 months
2ZA – 2ZD	Leaseholder arrangements end	4 months
4	Accommodation formerly let to students in a specific educational establishment	2 weeks
4A	HMO accommodation rented to students for the academic year and is needed by new students	4 months
5, 5A – 5C	Specific categories of tied accommodation	2 months
5D	Designated key worker accommodation	2 months
5E – 5H	Supported accommodation	4 weeks
6	Redevelopment	4 months
6B	Compliance with enforcement action	4 months
7	Death of a tenant	2 months
7A	Severe Anti-Social Behaviour	No minimum
7B	No right to rent	2 weeks
8	Serious rent arrears	4 weeks

Discretionary Grounds – can be challenged by tenant

Ground number	Description	Notice period
9	Suitable alternative accommodation	2 months
10	Rent arrears	4 weeks
11	Persistent delay in paying rent	4 weeks
12	Breach of tenancy	2 weeks
13	Deterioration of property	2 weeks
14	Anti-Social Behaviour	No minimum
14A	Domestic abuse	2 weeks
14Z	Rioting	2 weeks
15	Deterioration of furniture	2 weeks
17	False statement	2 weeks
18	Supported accommodation	4 weeks

If you have been issued with a notice under any of the above grounds, you should make contact with the local authority as soon as possible. Support can be provided to prevent homelessness and so that the notice can be checked.

The Renters Rights Act 2025 also gives powers to the local authority to take enforcement action if the landlord has not complied with the terms of the Act and has therefore committed an offence or breach.  Further information can be found in the Guide to the Renters’ Rights Act, however examples of breaches are:

• Where a landlord fails to provide the tenant with the Renter’s Rights Act Information Sheet 2026 (which contains information about their new rights as a periodic tenant) by 31 May 2026
• Where the landlord tries to issue a tenancy with a fixed term
• Where the landlord tries to gain possession of the property by providing the tenant with oral notice or relying on a possession ground which they know does not apply
• Inviting, encouraging or accepting rent in advance or rent which is higher than the advertised amount 
• Remarketing the property following reliance on Ground 1 and 1a to gain possession
• Attempting to increase the rent without following the proper processes, or more often than once a year

If you believe that the landlord has breached the Renters Rights Act 2025, please contact the local authority.  You may be able to apply for a Rent Repayment Order to recover up to 2 years of rent payments (depending on the length of the breach) and this will also be discussed with you.

If you are a social housing tenant and you have a secure or assured tenancy agreement, you will have only received notice to leave if you have breached the conditions of your tenancy agreement. You should still follow the steps below to prevent your eviction.

If you are being asked to leave as a result of a breach of your tenancy conditions, you must take all reasonable steps to prevent your eviction. If you fail to do something, such as paying your rent, or you behave in a way that results in notice being served, you may be found intentionally homeless and no further accommodation will be provided to you. The Homelessness Prevention Team will discuss with you in more detail.

What to do if you receive a notice

If you have been served with a notice you should first check that the notice is valid. You can check whether a notice is valid online.

If you do not have a tenancy agreement and you share the accommodation with your landlord, you have fewer rights against eviction, but you should still get reasonable notice (usually 28 days).

If you believe the notice is invalid please contact the landlord or letting agent to discuss. The Homelessness Prevention Team can help you with discussions with your landlord and help to confirm if the notice is valid or not.

If the notice is not correct

If you have received a notice to leave your home you should contact your landlord to discuss it. If you require help discussing this with your landlord you should contact us as soon as possible.

If the notice is correct

As soon as the notice is received, and it has been confirmed that it is valid, you should contact us as soon as you receive a valid notice to leave your home. In the meantime, we recommend that you also take the following actions:

• contact your landlord or letting agent to find out the reason the notice has been served
• if the reason for the notice is rent arrears, negotiate an affordable repayment plan that you can stick to
• negotiate a later date to leave the property, giving yourself more time to make alternative arrangements
• make sure you have maximised your income, including checking that you are claiming all of the benefits you are entitled to

If the reason the notice has been served cannot be resolved, you can take the following actions:

• discuss with your current landlord or letting agent if they have any alternative accommodation available for you to access, in which case you may be able to transfer the deposit to another property
• contact other local landlords or letting agents to make them aware of your needs and register for available properties
• use social media and online agents, such as Rightmove to search for suitable properties
• start considering ways to get a deposit and rent in advance for a new property, remembering that you should have a previous deposit returned to you
• consider speaking to family, friends, or using savings to secure a deposit and other costs
• avoid taking out loans for your deposit amount if you are already struggling financially
• if accommodation is not affordable in Reading, consider widening your search to other areas that may be more affordable
• speak to family or friends to see if they are able to accommodate you in the short term while you continue to search for a suitable property

How the council can help

Social housing is in short supply. If you become homeless, it is likely that the support the local authority will provide is helping you to secure alternative private rented accommodation and it is our priority to prevent you from becoming homeless. We understand that the barrier to do this for most people is financial and we can support with the following:

• checking that any notice served is valid and discussing this with your landlord or letting agent
• offering help in negotiations with the current landlord to explore options for you to remain in your home
• carrying out an affordability assessment to see what accommodation is affordable for you
• providing an interest free loan for the rent in advance and deposit if you are unable to find this yourself

We may also assist you with the Rent Guarantee Scheme. This matches people who need homes with landlords who have private rented properties to let. We pay the rent directly to the landlord, in advance, and guarantee to pay up to six weeks’ rent as a tenancy deposit. Read more about the Rent Guarantee Scheme and find out if you qualify to apply. Keep in mind there are more tenants on the scheme than properties available, so you will probably have to find your own accommodation.

You can also apply for social housing by joining Homechoice at Reading or consider using Homefinder UK to find social housing in more affordable areas.