Section 8 Court Costs and Fees: What It Costs to Evict in 2026

Section 8 court costs are now the single most important budget line for any England landlord who needs to regain possession, because since Section 21 was abolished by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 there is no longer a cheaper “no-fault” shortcut to fall back on. Every possession that a tenant will not agree to voluntarily must run through the Section 8 route, and that means understanding the full chain of expenses: the court issue fee, the cost of the hearing, the price of bailiffs or High Court enforcement if the tenant still does not leave, and the lawyer or adviser fees you may incur along the way.

This guide sets out, in plain English, what it realistically costs to evict a tenant in England in 2026 using a Section 8 possession claim. We cover the official court fees, the enforcement costs, the hidden expenses landlords routinely forget, and a worked example showing a typical total bill. We also explain when you can recover some of those costs from the tenant and when you cannot.

The figures below are the standard published court fees and typical market rates as at June 2026. Court fees are set by the Ministry of Justice and change periodically, always confirm the current fee on GOV.UK before you pay.

Why Section 8 is now the only paid route to possession

Before 1 May 2026, most landlords used a Section 21 “no-fault” notice, which led to a relatively cheap and predictable accelerated possession procedure with no hearing. That route is gone. All assured tenancies are now periodic, and the only way a landlord can force a possession against the tenant’s wishes is by proving one or more of the statutory grounds under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988.

That has three cost consequences:

• You almost always need a hearing. The old paperwork-only accelerated procedure was tied to Section 21. Section 8 claims are decided by a judge at a hearing, which means more court time and, often, more legal preparation.
• The grounds must be evidenced. Arrears schedules, the original notice, proof of service, deposit-protection records and compliance certificates all have to be in order, which increases the preparation cost.
• There is no “guaranteed” outcome on discretionary grounds. Some grounds (such as Ground 8 rent arrears of three months or 13 weeks) are mandatory, but many are discretionary, so you can incur the full cost and still not get an outright order.

If you are weighing your options before spending anything, read our guides on Section 8 vs Section 21: what changed and Surrender vs Section 8 eviction, a negotiated surrender is frequently far cheaper than a contested claim.

The Section 8 cost chain, stage by stage

A contested possession runs through up to four billable stages. You do not always reach the end, many tenants leave after the notice or after the order, but you should budget for the worst case.

Stage 1: Serving the Section 8 notice

Serving the notice itself has no court fee. You complete the current prescribed form on GOV.UK, state the grounds you are relying on, and give the correct notice period for those grounds. The cost here is your time, or an adviser’s fee if you ask someone to draft it.

Notice periods drive your timeline (and therefore your void and arrears exposure), so they matter to the overall cost:

Getting the form, grounds and notice period right is critical, a defective notice means you pay the whole court fee and lose. See how to get a Section 8 notice right the first time and Section 8 notice explained.

Stage 2: Issuing the possession claim at court

If the tenant does not leave by the date in the notice, you apply to the County Court for a possession order. This is where the first significant fee falls.

• Standard possession claim (paper, Form N5 plus particulars): the court issue fee is around £404 in 2026 for a claim brought on paper.
• Online possession claim via the Possession Claim Online (PCOL) service: around £391, slightly cheaper, but PCOL is only available for straightforward rent-arrears and money claims, not every ground.

You can usually add a money claim for the arrears to the same possession claim without a separate issue fee, although interest and the way arrears are pleaded can affect the figure.

Stage 3: The hearing and the possession order

Section 8 claims are listed for a hearing before a District Judge. There is no separate “hearing fee” added on top of the issue fee for a standard possession claim, the issue fee covers it. Your costs at this stage are:

• Advocacy: either your own time, or a solicitor or legal executive (typically £150–£300 per hour) or a barrister/advocate for the hearing (a county court possession advocacy fee commonly runs £250–£750 depending on area and complexity).
• Preparation: assembling the arrears schedule, witness statement and evidence bundle.

If you win on a mandatory ground, the judge grants an outright possession order, usually giving the tenant 14 days to leave (extendable to up to 42 days in cases of exceptional hardship). On discretionary grounds the judge may instead make a suspended order.

Stage 4: Enforcement (bailiffs or High Court enforcement)

If the tenant still does not leave after the possession order expires, you cannot remove them yourself, that would be an unlawful eviction and a criminal offence. You must apply for enforcement.

There are two routes:

Most landlords use the County Court bailiff because it is cheaper; those who need speed and can justify the cost apply to transfer up to the High Court.

Other costs landlords forget to budget for

The official fees are only part of the picture. The expenses that derail a budget are usually the indirect ones.

• Lost rent during the process. From notice to enforced eviction, a contested arrears case can easily run six to ten months. If the rent is £1,200 a month and the tenant pays nothing, that is £7,200–£12,000 of lost income, far more than any court fee.
• Legal advice. Even a relatively simple claim can cost £600–£1,500 in solicitor fees if you outsource the whole thing; a fully contested, defended claim can run into several thousand pounds.
• Process server fees if you pay someone to serve documents and prove service: £50–£150.
• Repairs and re-letting once you get the property back, plus a potential void period before a new tenant moves in.
• Re-issuing if your notice or claim is found to be defective, you pay the fees again from scratch.

Can you recover Section 8 court costs from the tenant?

Partly, and it is rarely the windfall landlords hope for.

• Fixed costs. In a standard possession claim you can usually recover a set of “fixed commencement costs” (a modest fixed sum) plus the court issue fee if the order is made on the standard track. These fixed costs are small, typically under £100 in legal costs on top of the recoverable issue fee.
• The arrears themselves. A money judgment for the arrears is enforceable, but a judgment is only as good as the tenant’s ability to pay. If the tenant has no assets and no income, you may never recover the money even with a judgment.
• Your full legal bill is usually not recoverable. In ordinary possession claims, the court does not generally order the losing tenant to pay your full solicitor and advocacy costs. You absorb most of it.

This is why prevention, robust referencing, a guarantor where appropriate, and early intervention on arrears, is almost always cheaper than litigation. See Section 8 eviction software for landlords for how tracking arrears and deadlines early reduces the chance of ever reaching court.

Worked example: a contested Ground 8 arrears eviction

Let’s put real numbers to it. Priya rents out a flat in Leeds for £1,150 a month. Her tenant stops paying. By the time arrears hit three months (the Ground 8 threshold), the tenant owes £3,450.

Priya wins an outright order on Ground 8 and recovers the £404 issue fee and a small fixed-costs sum in the order. But the tenant has no assets, so the £3,450 arrears judgment is, in practice, unenforceable. Her real net cost is close to £9,000, and the single biggest line is not a court fee at all, but the rent she never collected while the process ground on.

The lesson: the cheapest eviction is the one you avoid. Tight referencing, prompt arrears chasing, and a clean, compliant notice that does not get thrown out all save far more than shopping around on court fees.

How to keep Section 8 court costs as low as possible

• Serve a flawless notice. The most expensive mistake is a defective notice that costs you the entire claim. Use the current prescribed form on GOV.UK and get the grounds and notice period right. Our Section 8 notice template guide covers the common wording errors.
• Keep impeccable records. A clear arrears schedule, proof of service, deposit-protection confirmation and valid compliance certificates (gas, EPC, electrical) head off the technical defences that lengthen and cost you a hearing.
• Act early on arrears. Engaging at one month’s arrears, not three, gives you the best chance of a payment plan or voluntary move-out before any fee is spent.
• Consider surrender first. A negotiated surrender, sometimes with a modest “cash for keys” payment, is often dramatically cheaper than a contested claim. See Surrender vs Section 8 eviction.
• Use the right enforcement route. Default to the County Court bailiff unless speed genuinely justifies the extra cost of High Court enforcement.

For the bigger picture on every lawful way to end a tenancy in the post-Section 21 world, see how tenancies end in England in 2026.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to evict a tenant under Section 8 in 2026?

The official court fees are modest, around £404 to issue a paper possession claim and £143 for a County Court bailiff warrant. But the real cost of a contested Section 8 eviction is usually several thousand pounds once you add legal fees and, above all, lost rent during the months the process takes. A typical contested arrears case lands somewhere between £5,000 and £12,000 in total exposure.

Is there a court hearing fee on top of the issue fee?

For a standard possession claim, no separate hearing fee is charged, the issue fee covers the hearing before the District Judge. Your additional costs at the hearing stage are advocacy and preparation, not a further court fee. Always confirm current fees on GOV.UK, as they are reviewed periodically.

Can I make the tenant pay my Section 8 court costs?

Only partially. You can usually recover the court issue fee and a small fixed-costs sum if you win, plus a money judgment for the arrears. You generally cannot recover your full solicitor and advocacy bill in an ordinary possession claim, and an arrears judgment is worthless if the tenant has no means to pay.

Do I need a solicitor to bring a Section 8 claim?

No, you can run a Section 8 possession claim yourself, which saves the legal fees. But the procedure is technical: a defective notice or a missing compliance document can lose the whole claim. Many landlords do the notice and paperwork themselves and instruct an advocate only for the hearing, which keeps costs down while reducing risk.

How long does a Section 8 eviction take, and why does that affect the cost?

From serving the notice to an enforced eviction, a contested case commonly takes six to ten months, longer where court and bailiff backlogs are bad. Because lost rent is usually the largest single cost, every extra month of delay adds far more to your bill than any court fee, which is why acting early and serving a watertight notice matters financially.

What happens if my Section 8 notice is found to be invalid?

The claim fails, you lose the fees you have already paid, and you must start again with a fresh, correct notice, doubling your court costs and adding months of delay. This is the most expensive avoidable error in the whole process, which is why getting the prescribed form, grounds and notice period right the first time is the best money-saving move you can make.

Coming soon

Tenancy Pilot is launching soon with a guided Section 8 notice generator that builds your notice on the current prescribed form, helps you select the correct grounds and notice period, and tracks every deadline from service to hearing in one command centre, exactly the discipline that keeps a claim from being thrown out and your court costs from doubling. Paired with arrears tracking and compliance reminders, it is designed to help you avoid the most expensive eviction mistakes before they happen. Want early access? Join the waitlist and be first to use it when we go live.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Court fees and procedural rules change, always confirm the current figures and forms on GOV.UK and check the law at legislation.gov.uk. For advice on your specific situation, consult a qualified solicitor or housing adviser.