Landlord Possessions (Section 8)

The Renters’ Rights Act requires agents to follow a strict, evidence-based process to recover possession of a property on behalf of a landlord. 

Jupix provides a dedicated Landlord Possession workflow to manage this process and track Section 8 notices and possession claims from start to finish.

This article includes:

• Understanding grounds for possession
• Landlord possession dashboards
• Starting a landlord possession
• Marking a possession as notice (S8) served
  • If the tenant leaves before the notice expires
• Marking a possession as claim submitted
  • Recording the outcome of a possession claim
• Cancelling a landlord possession
• Notes, to-dos and supporting evidence
• Viewing historic possessions

Understanding grounds for possession

To recover possession you must specify one or more legal grounds. There are two types, and the type affects both the outcome at court and the options available to you in Jupix:

Mandatory grounds

If the ground is proven and the correct process has been followed, the court must grant possession.

Discretionary grounds

The court decides whether to grant possession, and may grant it, refuse it, or issue a suspended possession order.

You can select multiple grounds on a single possession, and you can combine mandatory and discretionary grounds. Including all the grounds that apply gives the strongest case at court.

Landlord possession dashboards

Three entries in the Property Management section of the Lettings Dashboard help you track landlord possessions. Each one opens a list of possessions filtered by status:

• Landlord possessions preparing – possessions you have started but not yet served
• Landlord possessions S8 served – possessions where the Section 8 notice has been served
• Possession claims in progress – possessions where a claim has been submitted to the court

Starting a landlord possession

1. Open the active Assured Periodic Tenancy record
2. Click Start Termination Process
3. Click Start Landlord Possession
   
4. Select all the grounds you are using to seek possession
5. If you are notifying the tenant in advance of serving the formal Section 8 notice, enter the date and any notes
   
6. Click Save

The possession now appears on the Landlord possessions preparing dashboard. Use this stage to gather the evidence you need to support the selected grounds before you serve the notice.

Marking a possession as notice (S8) served

Once you have served the Section 8 (Form 3a) document on the tenant:

1. Open the possession
2. Click Mark as S8 Served
   
3. Enter the date the S8 was served

Jupix calculates the proposed tenancy end date from the served date and the longest notice period applicable to the grounds you selected. You can edit both the served date and the proposed tenancy end date if required.

The possession status advances to S8 Served and it moves to the Landlord possessions S8 served dashboard.

If the tenant leaves before the notice expires

After a Section 8 notice has been served, the tenant may decide to leave before the notice period ends. How you handle this depends on the situation:

The tenant serves their own notice to leave early

A tenant on an Assured Periodic Tenancy can give at least 2 months' notice to leave at any point. Return to the tenancy, click Start Termination Process and start the Tenant Notice Received process – this can run alongside the landlord possession. Once the tenant has vacated, cancel the possession process.

The tenant is moving out when the notice expires

Towards the end of the notice period, click Set Tenancy to Ending on the landlord possession to begin the standard tenant move-out process.

Marking a possession as claim submitted

If the tenant does not vacate by the expiry date, you will need to submit a possession claim to the court. The earliest you can submit a claim is the day after the proposed tenancy end date, and Jupix will not let you record the claim as sent before then.

Once you have submitted the claim:

1. Open the possession
2. Click Mark as Possession Claim Sent
3. Enter the Possession Claim Sent date

The possession now appears on the Possession claims in progress dashboard. When you are notified of the hearing date, enter it on the possession. Jupix then sets an evidence required by date two weeks before the hearing, which is the deadline for submitting your evidence to the court.

Recording the outcome of a possession claim

There are four possible outcomes of a possession claim. Record the relevant one against the possession.

Claim granted

Use this when the court grants the landlord possession. Click Claim Granted, then enter the Hearing Decision Date and Hearing Notes, and edit the Proposed Tenancy End Date as agreed at the hearing. The possession updates to Finalised. Click Set Tenancy to Ending to begin the standard tenant move-out process.

Claim dismissed

Use this when the court does not grant the landlord possession. Click Claim Dismissed, then enter the Hearing Decision Date and Hearing Notes. The possession updates to Finalised.

Claim suspended

Use this when the outcome is a suspended possession order. Click Claim Suspended, then enter the Hearing Decision Date and record the conditions of the suspended order in the Hearing Notes.

Possession cancelled

Use this if the court hearing is cancelled for any reason. See Cancelling a landlord possession below.

Cancelling a landlord possession

Use this option if the possession is no longer being pursued – for example, if you used Ground 8 and all tenant arrears are paid before the hearing date.

1. Open the possession
2. Click Cancel Landlord Possession

Notes, to-dos and supporting evidence

Each landlord possession has its own Notes and To-Dos section where you can add notes, upload or create documents, and set reminders throughout the process. Supporting evidence documents attached here also appear in the Notes grid on the tenancy.

Viewing historic possessions

The Termination tab on a tenancy lets you view historic possessions. Each one can be printed individually, along with its Notes and To-Dos section.

Related articles:

Renters' Rights Act: Key changes

Finishing a tenancy