Section 8 notice period calculator
I am serving a section 8 notice. What is the earliest date it can expire?
Rules last read at source on 15 September 2026. England only — Scotland and Wales are different regimes, and none of this applies there.
Your notice
The date it is actually served on the tenant, which is not always the date you sign it.
Source: Grounds for possession: guidance for landlords and letting agents (GOV.UK)
Enter the date you are serving and tick at least one ground, and this will show the earliest date the notice can expire — and which ground is setting it.
What this does not tell you
It is arithmetic on the dates you typed in. Every one of these is a way the answer above can be right and your position still be wrong.
It does not tell you whether a ground applies to your situation. Choosing the ground is the landlord's decision, and getting it wrong is a different failure from getting the date wrong.
It does not check that your notice is valid. A notice can be the right length and still fail on the form used, how it was served, or what was outstanding at the time.
It works from the date you say you served. Where a tenancy agreement or a court order sets a longer period than the statutory minimum, the longer one applies and this page cannot see it.
England only. Scotland and Wales have different regimes, and none of the periods below apply there.
Answers, in plain terms
How much notice does a section 8 notice have to give?
It depends entirely on the ground you cite, and the grounds range from two weeks to four months. The longest period among the grounds you cite is the one that binds: citing Ground 8 (serious arrears, four weeks) alongside Ground 1 (landlord moving in, four months) means four months, not four weeks. Grounds 7A and 14 carry no statutory minimum period at all.
What happens if the notice is too short?
The court refuses the possession claim rather than shortening it or waiting out the difference. The notice period has to be served again from the start, which in practice costs you the whole period plus the time it took to find out. That is why the earliest valid expiry is worth working out before you serve rather than after.
Can I cite more than one ground on the same notice?
Yes, and it is common. The notice then has to satisfy the longest minimum period of any ground on it, so adding a four-month ground to a four-week one makes the whole notice a four-month notice. The calculator shows each ground's own earliest date so you can see which one is setting the deadline.
Does section 21 still exist?
No. Section 21 no-fault eviction was abolished by the Renters' Rights Act and has not been available since 1 May 2026. Section 8, on one or more of the statutory grounds, is the only route for a landlord to end an assured tenancy against the tenant's wishes.
Does an outstanding deposit duty affect this?
It can stop the claim regardless of how much notice you gave. Since the Renters' Rights Act rewrote section 215 of the Housing Act 2004, a court cannot make a possession order on any ground except 7A or 14 while a deposit duty is still outstanding — either the money not being in a scheme, or the prescribed information never having been given.
Tenarize runs this same calculation against your actual tenancies
The code behind this page is a copy of the code behind the product, kept in step by a check that fails our build if the two ever disagree. The difference is that inside Tenarize it runs against dates already on file, and tells you before the deadline rather than when you think to ask.