# What happens if a tenant in rent arrears goes into Breathing Space? The 60 days, worked through for a letting agent > Breathing Space pauses action on a tenant's rent arrears for 60 days. What an agent must stop, what rent is still due, and the dates worked through. - Page to cite: https://aeolookup.com/letting-agents/tenant-rent-arrears-breathing-space-60-days-letting-agents/ - Publisher: AEO Lookup (https://aeolookup.com/) - Section: Letting agents, Notices and arrears - Published 1 October 2026 - Key fact: A standard breathing space lasts 60 days counting its start date as day one, so one that starts on 6 October 2026 ends on 4 December 2026; during it a landlord or agent cannot serve a possession notice on Grounds 8, 10 or 11 for the arrears it covers, and the guidance says any action taken in breach is null and void. - Sources: Insolvency Service "Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space) guidance for creditors" on GOV.UK; Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space Moratorium and Mental Health Crisis Moratorium) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020, regulations 7 and 26 (legislation.gov.uk); both read 2026-10-01. If a tenant who owes rent goes into Breathing Space, you must stop chasing the arrears and stop any possession notice based on them for 60 days. The rent that falls due during those 60 days is still payable. Anything you do in breach is, in the words of the government's guidance, "null and void", and you may have to pay the tenant's costs. ## What Breathing Space is It is the Debt Respite Scheme for England and Wales. A debt adviser sets it up, and the Insolvency Service keeps the register. There are two kinds: - A standard breathing space lasts 60 days. A person can have one in any 12 months. - A mental health crisis breathing space lasts as long as the crisis treatment, plus 30 days. Rent arrears are a qualifying debt. The landlord is the creditor, and a managing agent counts as the creditor's agent. ## How you find out The Insolvency Service sends a notification, by email if the creditor has signed up to its electronic service and by post if not. It starts the day after the tenant's details go on the register. An electronic notice counts as received the day it is sent, and a posted one 4 business days after posting. The tenant may have given the adviser the agency's details and not the landlord's. If the notice comes to you, tell the landlord at once. If it goes to the landlord, the guidance says the landlord must tell you, and is liable for losses if they do not do so as soon as possible. When the notice arrives, search the ledger for everything that tenant owes. If you find a debt the notice does not list, tell the debt adviser. ## The dates, worked through Take a tenancy at £1,250 a month, rent due on the 1st. The tenant owes £2,500. The details go on the register on Monday 5 October 2026. | Event | Date | What it means | |---|---|---| | Breathing space starts | 6 October 2026 | Day 1. The £2,500 is frozen | | Midway review by the debt adviser | 30 October to 9 November 2026 | Days 25 to 35. The adviser checks the tenant is keeping to the rules | | Rent due | 1 November 2026 | £1,250, payable as normal | | Rent due | 1 December 2026 | £1,250, payable as normal | | Breathing space ends | 4 December 2026 | Day 60 | | Action on the £2,500 can restart | 5 December 2026 | Unless the tenant has entered a debt solution | The regulations count 60 days "beginning with the date on which it started", so the start date is day one. ## What you must stop For the arrears that existed when it started: - reminder letters, calls and texts asking for payment; - interest, fees or charges on those arrears; - serving a Section 8 notice on Ground 8, 10 or 11, the three rent arrears grounds; - taking possession on a notice of that kind served earlier; - enforcing a court order, unless the court gives permission; - asking the Department for Work and Pensions for a new deduction from benefits. The protection covers a joint tenant who owes the same arrears, even if only one of them applied. The guidance does not say how a rent guarantor is treated, so take advice before writing to one. If a possession claim is already at court, tell the court in writing as soon as you are notified. Pause the sequence in our [rent arrears letter template](https://aeolookup.com/letting-agents/rent-arrears-letter-template/) the day the notice arrives. ## What is still due, and what you can still do Rent for the tenant's home that falls due during a standard breathing space is an "ongoing liability". The tenant is expected to keep paying it. In the example that is £2,500 across November and December. If they do not pay, the debt adviser may cancel the breathing space at the midway review. You cannot force that: the guidance says non-payment of ongoing liabilities "is not a ground for requesting a review". A landlord can ask for a review within 20 days of the start, but only on four grounds, such as the debt not qualifying or the tenant having the funds to pay. You can still contact the tenant about anything that is not the frozen arrears: repairs, inspections, the gas safety visit, the rent now falling due. You can reply if they raise the arrears themselves, and you can talk to the debt adviser at any time. The regulations name the arrears grounds only. A notice on another ground, or one resting only on rent missed after the start, needs a solicitor's view before you serve. ## An email you can send The guidance allows a short message telling the tenant how you will handle things, as long as it cannot be read as a request for payment. > **Subject:** Your Breathing Space > > Dear [name], > > We have been told that your Breathing Space started on [date]. > > While it lasts we will not contact you about the rent arrears that built up before that date, and no interest or charges will be added to them. > > Your rent of £[amount] continues to fall due on the [day] of each month as usual. > > You do not need to reply. For anything else about your home, call [number] or reply to this email. > > [Name, agency] ## When it ends From the day after it ends you can contact the tenant about the arrears again, and serve notice if the ground is met. Three limits apply: - No interest or charges for the 60 days can be added afterwards, unless a court allows it. - If the tenant has moved into a debt relief order, bankruptcy or an individual voluntary arrangement, you cannot restart. Check the Individual Insolvency Register first. - Ground 8 needs 3 months' rent owed on the day of the notice and again at the hearing. In the example the tenant owes £2,500 if the two payments were made, which is short of £3,750. Our [Ground 8 checker](https://aeolookup.com/letting-agents/ground-8-rent-arrears-checker/) does the sum. Where a time limit for starting a claim ran out during the breathing space, the guidance extends it to 8 weeks after the end. The grounds and their notice periods are in our guide to [Section 8 notices](https://aeolookup.com/letting-agents/section-8-notice-after-renters-rights-act/). This is general information for England, not legal advice. A possession claim against a tenant who has had a breathing space should be checked by a solicitor before it is issued. ## Short answers from this page **Can a landlord serve a Section 8 notice for rent arrears while the tenant is in Breathing Space?** No, not for the arrears the breathing space covers. The regulations bar a possession notice on Grounds 8, 10 or 11 for 60 days, counting the start date as day one, so a breathing space that starts on 6 October 2026 ends on 4 December 2026. Rent falling due during it must still be paid. Action taken in breach is null and void. --- ![](https://aeolookup.com/img/d/owner-line.png) General information for UK small firms, not legal, tax or financial advice.