Landlord Possessions (Section 8)

The Renters' Rights Act requires you to follow a strict, evidence-based process to recover possession of a property on behalf of a landlord. With Section 21 abolished, possession is now a judicial process: you need to select the correct Section 8 ground(s), serve the right notice, track the case through the courts, and keep your evidence together.

Alto supports this through the Agent/Landlord (Possession) route in the Vacate Property flow, which adds Section 8 specific fields, calculates key dates for you, and gives you a dedicated Property Possession progression to track the case from grounds recorded through to the property being handed back.

Starting a vacate now begins by choosing how the tenancy is ending - see Vacating a tenancy. This article covers the Agent/Landlord (Possession) route, for Section 8 cases where the landlord or agent is serving notice and may need to go through the courts to obtain possession.

What the Possession route adds

Selecting Agent/Landlord (Possession) starts a Property Possession progression, reflecting the removal of Section 21 and the requirement for possession to follow defined legal grounds under Section 8, with appropriate notice periods and supporting evidence.

It opens a set of Section 8 specific fields on the Vacate Property screen and the progression:

• Grounds for Vacate - a multi select list of the Housing Act 1988 grounds, each showing its statutory notice period
• Notice Received Date - the date the tenant formally received notice that they're expected to vacate. This starts the required notice period for your chosen Section 8 ground(s)
• Earliest Court Filing Date - calculated automatically by Alto from the ground(s) and notice date, so you don't have to work out the statutory minimum yourself
• Hearing Date and Court Evidence Due Date - for tracking the case once it reaches court
• A Supporting Documents area for storing the notice, court paperwork, and evidence against the case
• New Property Possession milestones to manage the process

The Property Possession progression remains permanently accessible for historical records, even after the vacate is completed. You can view all Property Possessions in a lettings progressions group.

Everything else about vacating - finding the tenancy, tracking progress, finalising or cancelling - works the same way as any other vacate.

Starting a Possession vacate

You'll need to access the tenancy progression, the same as for any other vacate. Have the ground(s) for possession and the date notice was, or will be, served ready - you'll be asked for both in the first few steps.

First, open the tenancy and start the vacate:

1. Click Tenancies on the main navigation bar
2. Select the relevant tenancy from Recent & Favourite Tenancies
   1. Alternatively, find the tenancy using the Search Tenancies bar in the top right
3. Click Tenancy on the side menu
4. Click the Tenancy top tab
5. Click Vacate Property
   

Choose the Possession route:

6. In the Start Vacate window, select Agent/Landlord (Possession), then click Next

   

Select the Section 8 ground(s):

7. The Vacate Property screen opens with a Grounds for Vacate panel listing each Housing Act 1988 ground with its statutory notice period. Tick every ground that applies - the X selected counter beside the panel label updates as you select
   

Enter the notice and case dates:

8. Complete the relevant dates on the Vacate Property screen.
   Once notice has been served, use the calendar to select the Notice Received Date
9. Use the calendar to select the Target Vacate Date - the date you expect the tenant to leave

10. Where a court hearing has been scheduled, use the calendar to select the Hearing Date
    
    
    Alto calculates and displays the Earliest Court Filing Date from the ground(s) and notice date.

     Note

    • The Notice Received Date starts the required notice period for your chosen ground(s). Where multiple grounds are selected, the longest notice period is always used. Alto adds an Earliest Court Filing Date to your Management Dates - the date after which you can apply for a possession order through the courts, if necessary
    • Entering a Hearing Date creates a Court Evidence Due Date automatically, set to 14 days before the hearing. This is the deadline for submitting your supporting documents - you don't set the Court Evidence Due Date yourself

     Warning

    If a selected ground has a minimum tenancy duration requirement that won't be met by the time the notice period expires, Alto shows a Minimum Tenancy Duration for Ground warning before saving, explaining the shortfall and asking you to confirm. Review the dates carefully before confirming, or cancel and choose a different ground

Start the vacate and generate letters:

11. Click Start Vacate to save the case

12. Alto opens Create Letters with the event-driven letters for a possession vacate already listed. Choose who to send from and which branch stationery to use, then either Place Letters in Letter Rack or Open Letters Now, and Close
    

Tracking the possession case

Back on the tenancy, the relevant term now shows a Vacate in Progress status with a progress bar you can click through to the possession progression. 

Alternatively:

1. Click Progressions on the main navigation bar
2. In the dropdown, click Lettings progressions
3. In the Lettings section, click Property Possessions
4. Open the relevant In Progress case, which when opened is now titled Vacate In Progress (Possession)

The Section 8 detail - Vacate Grounds, Notice Served Date, Earliest Court Filing, Hearing Date, Court Evidence Due and Target Vacate Date - sits alongside the usual tenancy, rent and deposit information.

Upload supporting documents

1. In the Supporting Documents section, click Upload File, then drag and drop the notice, court paperwork or evidence onto the case.
   (There's a maximum file size of 30MB, and the file types supported are .pdf, .docx, .doc, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif, .txt, .rtf, .xls, .xlw, .xlsx, .wma, .mp3, .mp4, .csv, .xml, .zip)

Use Send E-Mail, Send SMS and Add Note to log any communications - these appear on the tenant's and landlord's Timeline.

For managing progression tasks, notes and letting dates on the case, see Progressing a vacating tenancy.

Keeping the possession case up to date

As the case moves forward - for example once the court confirms a hearing date - click Edit Vacate to reopen the Vacate Property screen and update the relevant fields.

Finalising or cancelling the vacate

Once the tenant has vacated, finalise the case the same way as any other vacate:

1. From the progression, click Actions
2. In the dropdown, click Finalise Vacation
3. Confirm the Tenancy Information, Property and Owner are correct, and add any Notes
4. Click OK
   
5. You'll then be asked to update the tenant's address. Click Update

If the vacate was started in error, click Actions > Cancel Vacation to revert the tenancy to Active. 

For reverting an already finalised vacate, see Reverting a tenancy back to active when it has been vacated.

• Related Help Centre articles that you may find useful.

  Renters' Rights Act: Key changes

  Renters’ Rights Act: Updates to Alto

  Renters’ Rights Act: FAQs and troubleshooting guidance

  Rent Review for Assured Periodic Tenancies

  Vacating a tenancy

  The Letting Centre - Forms and Agreements 2026

  The Letting Centre - Section 8 and Section 13 notices

• Related e-Learning/video training as part of Alto Skills. Alto Skills offers self-paced digital learning in the form of skills.

  Converting Your Tenancies to Assured Periodic Tenancies

  Carrying Out a Rent Review on a Tenancy