Ground 3 (Former Holiday Let) Was Removed on 1 May 2026: What Landlords Use Instead

What exactly changed

Before 1 May 2026, Ground 3 applied where the property had been let for holiday use within the 12 months before the tenancy began and the landlord had given the tenant a pre-tenancy notice that Ground 3 might be used. It was a mandatory ground with a short notice period.

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 rewrote the Schedule 2 grounds and omitted Ground 3 entirely. It was not renamed or renumbered, it was removed. The current section 8(4AA) notice-period table contains no entry for it, and Form 3A cannot validly cite it.

A Section 8 notice served on or after 1 May 2026 citing Ground 3 is defective. The tenant or their adviser will apply to strike out the claim and the court will agree. Only a Ground 3 notice validly served before 1 May 2026 under the old regime could potentially still be relied on, subject to the Act's transitional provisions, take specialist advice if you are in that position.

• Removed, not amended: Ground 3 was omitted from Schedule 2 by the Renters' Rights Act 2025 with effect from 1 May 2026
• Notices citing it are invalid: A Form 3A citing Ground 3 served on or after 1 May 2026 will be struck out
• Pre-May 2026 notices: Transitional questions are fact-specific, take legal advice before relying on an old notice
• Pre-tenancy Ground 3 notices are now ineffective: A notice given to a tenant before the tenancy that Ground 3 might be used has no effect for tenancies under the new regime

What winter-let landlords can do instead

There is no like-for-like replacement. The surviving possession grounds do not include a holiday-use route, and the two no-fault-style mandatory grounds carry constraints that do not fit a seasonal cycle: Ground 1 (own or family occupation) and Ground 1A (sale) each require 4 months' notice and cannot take effect within the first 12 months of the tenancy.

In practice, the options are: (1) rely on the tenant leaving voluntarily, a tenant under a Periodic Assured Tenancy can end the tenancy with at least 2 months' written notice; (2) agree a mutual surrender, both parties signing a deed of surrender, possibly with an incentive payment; (3) keep the property in holiday use year-round, genuine holiday lettings, where the property is not occupied as the occupier's principal home, sit outside the assured tenancy regime altogether; or (4) accept that an off-season residential let may run beyond the season, and price that risk in.

What you should not do is grant a winter tenancy assuming a spring recovery. There is no ground that guarantees it, and using Ground 1 or 1A without the genuine qualifying intention is a criminal offence under the Renters' Rights Act 2025.

• No dedicated replacement ground: The RRA 2025 provides no holiday-let recovery route
• Grounds 1 and 1A do not fit the seasonal model: 4 months' notice and no effect within the first 12 months of the tenancy
• Mutual surrender: A signed deed of surrender ends the tenancy by agreement, our Deed of Surrender template covers this
• Holiday lettings proper remain outside the regime: Short-term lets that are not the occupier's principal home are not assured tenancies
• False ground claims are criminal: Citing Ground 1 or 1A without the genuine intention exposes you to prosecution and a Rent Repayment Order

If you currently have a winter-let tenant

If you granted an off-season residential tenancy and the tenant is still in occupation, the tenancy is a Periodic Assured Tenancy under the new regime and continues until the tenant gives notice, a possession order is made on a surviving ground, or the tenancy is surrendered by agreement.

Start with a conversation: many winter-let tenants always intended a short stay and will give their 2 months' notice in the normal way. If the tenant wants to remain and you need the property back, the only lawful routes are the surviving Schedule 2 grounds (each with its own conditions and notice period) or a negotiated surrender. Do not serve a notice citing Ground 3, and do not treat an old pre-tenancy Ground 3 notice as having any effect.

• The tenancy continues: A winter let that has run past the season is an ordinary Periodic Assured Tenancy
• Tenant notice: The tenant can end it with at least 2 months' written notice
• Negotiated surrender: A deed of surrender, with or without an incentive, is the clean consensual exit
• Surviving grounds only: Any Section 8 notice must cite a ground that exists in the amended Schedule 2

Frequently asked questions