Rent Arrears Letter & Arrears Statement

A free rent arrears letter for landlords in England, with a running arrears statement showing every charge and payment by date. Use it to put the arrears in writing before considering any possession notice, and to keep a record a court can follow.

*A dated arrears statement and a plain-English letter to the tenant*

Last reviewed: 2026-08-18. Next review: 2026-11-18.

Arrears summary

Arrears statement

List every rent charge and every payment in date order. A running balance is far more persuasive than a single figure, and it is what a court, a duty solicitor or the tenant's adviser will ask to see.

Wording you can use

Dear [tenant name],

I am writing about the rent for [property address]. Rent of £[amount] is payable [weekly / fortnightly / monthly] on the [due date].

According to my records, the rent account is £[total arrears] in arrears as at [date]. A statement of the charges and payments I have recorded is attached. If you think any entry is wrong, please tell me and I will check it against my records.

Please either pay the outstanding balance, or contact me by [date] with a proposal for clearing it. If money is tight, please say so — it is easier to agree a realistic arrangement now than to let the arrears grow.

If part of your rent is paid through a housing amount in a Universal Credit award and that payment has been delayed, please let me know, as that affects how the arrears are treated.

You can get free, independent advice from Citizens Advice or a local housing adviser.

Yours sincerely, [landlord / agent name] — [contact details]

The Ground 8 threshold (England)

Ground 8 of Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 is the mandatory rent-arrears ground for possession. Since 1 May 2026, following amendment by the Renters' Rights Act 2025, the threshold is at least 13 weeks' rent unpaid where rent is payable weekly or fortnightly, or at least three months' rent unpaid where rent is payable monthly.

The arrears must reach that level both at the date the section 8 notice is served and at the date of the hearing. The separate quarterly and yearly limbs of the ground were removed by the same amendment.

For this ground, "rent" means rent lawfully due from the tenant. Where the tenant is entitled to an amount for housing as part of a Universal Credit award, any amount unpaid only because the tenant had not yet received that payment is ignored when the arrears are calculated.

Grounds 10 (some rent unpaid) and 11 (persistent delay in paying rent) are discretionary: the court may order possession but does not have to.

Before you consider a possession notice

Put the arrears in writing early, with the exact amount and the date it is measured at.
Keep a dated statement of every charge and payment rather than a single running total from memory.
Ask whether a Universal Credit housing payment is delayed, and record the answer.
Offer a realistic repayment arrangement in writing, and record whether it was kept.
Keep all correspondence in one place — texts and calls are hard to evidence later.
Check the official process on GOV.UK before serving anything, and take advice if you are unsure.

Important

This template is general information based on the Housing Act 1988 and GOV.UK guidance for England. It is not legal advice, and it is not a statutory notice — a section 8 notice must be given on the prescribed form. Court fees and procedure change; check the current position on GOV.UK or take advice from a solicitor or a housing adviser before starting a possession claim.

Sources: - legislation.gov.uk — Housing Act 1988, Schedule 2 (grounds for possession, including Ground 8) — https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50/schedule/2 - legislation.gov.uk — Housing Act 1988, section 8 (notice of proceedings for possession) — https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50/section/8 - legislation.gov.uk — Renters' Rights Act 2025 — https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/26/contents - GOV.UK — Evicting tenants in England — https://www.gov.uk/evicting-tenants - GOV.UK — Housing costs and Universal Credit — https://www.gov.uk/housing-and-universal-credit