Ground 4A eviction of student tenants

What Ground 4A is

Ground 4A is a possession ground introduced by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 and set out in Schedule 1 to that Act (which amends Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988). It is designed specifically to let landlords of student houses recover possession in time to re-let to a fresh group of students for the next academic year, now that fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 “no-fault” evictions have been abolished (from 1 May 2026). In effect it is the replacement mechanism that keeps the traditional student letting cycle working.

It is a mandatory ground. That means if the landlord proves that all the statutory conditions are met, the court must make a possession order; the judge has no discretion to refuse on grounds of fairness. So the real question is not whether the landlord “can” evict in principle, but whether every condition is satisfied in your case.

The conditions the landlord must satisfy

Ground 4A only works if all of the following are true. If any one of them is missing, the ground fails.

1. The property is a house in multiple occupation (HMO). Ground 4A applies where the dwelling is, or is part of, an HMO. Broadly, an HMO is a property occupied by three or more people forming two or more separate households who share facilities such as a kitchen or bathroom. This matters a great deal. If only two of you live there, or you are a couple or single household, the property is unlikely to be an HMO and Ground 4A cannot be used at all. A landlord in that situation would need a different ground.

2. All of you met the “student test”. Each tenant must have been a full-time student, or about to become one, when the tenancy was entered into. The ground is aimed at genuine student lets, not general shared housing.

3. You were given advance written notice. Before the tenancy was entered into, the landlord (or at least one joint landlord) must have given you a written statement saying they may wish to recover possession using Ground 4A. If you were never given that written warning before you signed up, the landlord cannot rely on the ground. It is worth checking your tenancy agreement and any pre-tenancy paperwork carefully for this.

4. The possession notice is served within the correct window. The relevant date must fall between 1 June and 30 September. This is what ties the ground to the academic year.

5. Four months’ notice. The landlord must give you at least four months’ notice (using the correct prescribed form, a section 8 notice) before applying to court for a possession order.

How this applies to your situation

If you live in a genuine student HMO, all of you were full-time students when you signed, you were warned in writing before you signed that Ground 4A might be used, and the landlord serves a proper section 8 notice in the summer window giving four months, then yes, the landlord can lawfully use Ground 4A to recover the property at the end of the academic year, and a court would be obliged to grant possession.

If, on the other hand, any of these points is missing, the ground is not available. Common weak points to check are whether the property is actually an HMO (particularly in smaller shared houses), whether you actually received the required pre-tenancy written statement, and whether the notice is in the correct form and gives the full four months within the 1 June to 30 September window.

Important practical point about leaving anyway

Even if Ground 4A does apply, it does not force you out on a fixed date by itself. The notice only entitles the landlord to apply to court after the notice period expires; the landlord cannot lawfully change the locks or make you leave without a court possession order and, if necessary, county court bailiffs or High Court enforcement. So the timeline in practice is usually longer than the date on the notice, especially given court delays.

That said, if the conditions are genuinely met, resisting is likely only to add cost and delay rather than change the outcome, because it is a mandatory ground. It is often more sensible to plan your move around the notice while checking that the paperwork is valid.

What I would check and do next

1. Confirm whether the property is legally an HMO, including how many separate households live there and whether facilities are shared. This is often the decisive issue.

2. Dig out your pre-tenancy documents and tenancy agreement and look for the written Ground 4A warning that must have been given before you signed.

3. Check the section 8 notice itself: is it on the correct prescribed form, does it cite Ground 4A, is the date within 1 June to 30 September, and does it give at least four clear months?

4. If any condition looks defective, raise it in writing with the landlord and consider getting the notice checked, as a defective notice cannot found a valid possession claim.

5. Get free specialist help from a source such as Shelter or Citizens Advice, who can review the actual notice and your tenancy documents, which is where the answer will ultimately turn.

Key missing facts

To give you a definite answer rather than the general position, it would help to know how many people live in the house and whether you share a kitchen or bathroom, whether you were all full-time students when you signed, whether you were given any written warning about Ground 4A before signing, and what the notice you have received actually says, including its date and how much notice it gives.