Where a landlord served a section 8 notice (relying on grounds 8, 10 and 11) but subsequently agreed with the tenant that the arrears would be discharged through monthly payments, can the landlord rely on the notice served to issue possession proceedings if the tenant fails to keep up with the agreed payments, or will a new notice be required?

The grounds for possession set out in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 are either mandatory or discretionary grounds. Where a mandatory ground is made out by the landlord, the court is obliged to make an order for outright possession, or a suspended order for possession (usually for a period of up to six weeks), where, for example, the tenant can demonstrate exceptional hardship. The court has much wider powers in relation to a discretionary ground for possession, so that where the landlord successfully makes out a discretionary ground, the court may order possession within a specified period, make a suspended possession order, or may stay the proceedings, to allow the tenant an opportunity to remedy the breach of the tenancy