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Tenancy A-Z

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N 

Notice to terminate a tenancy

Fixed-term tenancies are for a specific length of time and cannot be ended with notice unless both the landlord and tenant agree, or the Tenancy Tribunal allows it.

Periodic tenancies are ongoing tenancies of no fixed length that can be ended by giving notice.

Service tenancies are related to a contract of service between the landlord as employer and the tenant as employee. A separate contract for the tenancy does not need to be drawn up in writing for there to be a service tenancy, and rent may not have to be payable.

A tenant must provide written notice to the landlord at least 21 days before they leave a periodic tenancy. If the landlord wants to end a tenancy they must give the tenant 90 days’ notice in writing. This can be reduced to 42 days if:

  • The owner requires the property for themselves or their family member as a principal place of residence.
  • The owner is required, under an unconditional agreement for the sale of the premises, to give the purchaser vacant possession.
  • The landlord requires the property for occupation by employees (and the tenancy agreement clearly states the landlord uses or has acquired the premises for this purpose).

A landlord cannot issue a notice to terminate a tenancy in retaliation for any complaint against the landlord, or by the exercise or proposed exercise of any right, power or authority that is conferred on the tenant by the tenancy agreement, the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, or any other enactment. Where the landlord does issue a retaliatory notice, the tenant can apply, within 14 days after they received the notice, to the Tenancy Tribunal to have the notice set aside.

O

Outgoings

Outgoings are costs such as electricity and gas charges, telephone and internet charges, rates, insurance and water supply costs.

The landlord is responsible for all outgoings that are incurred whether or not the premises are occupied and are incurred for common facilities, the landlord is responsible for paying rates as they will be charged by the council whether or not there are tenants living at the property.

The tenant is responsible for all outgoings that are exclusively attributable to the tenant’s occupation of the premises and use of the facilities. This includes:

  • Charges for gas and electricity supplied to the property.
  • Supply of water if the water supplier charges for water provided to the premises
  • Charges for telephone and internet.

The landlord may also be responsible for any or all of these charges where the landlord and tenant have both agreed to this in writing.

P

Periodic tenancy

Periodic tenancies are ongoing tenancies of no fixed length that can be ended by giving notice.

In most situations, a tenant must give 21 days’ notice in writing, and a landlord must give 90 days’ notice in writing.

Possession of premises

When a landlord rents a premises to a tenant, they surrender possession of the premises to the tenant. The landlord does not become entitled to possession of the premises until either the tenant hands possession of the premises back to the landlord, or the Tenancy Tribunal grants a possession order to the landlord handing back possession of the premises to the landlord.

Where a tenant remains in possession of the premises after their tenancy has ended, the landlord’s and tenant’s obligations to each other continue until the tenant hands possession of the premises to the landlord or until the landlord enforces a possession order against the tenant to recover their premises.

If the landlord permits the tenant to remain in the premises for more than 90 days after the end of the tenancy, a new periodic tenancy is automatically granted to them on the same terms and conditions as the previous tenancy agreement.

In order to enforce an order for possession of the premises, the person entitled to possession of the premises must file the order with the District Court Collections Unit. Any person who does not use the District Court to enforce a possession order and enters onto or into any land or residential property to which the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 applies to seize possession of it without the tenant’s consent, commits an unlawful act for which they can be fined or imprisoned.

Q

Quiet enjoyment

The tenant may not unreasonably interfere with the peace, comfort and privacy of their neighbours or their landlord’s other tenants.

The landlord may not unreasonably interfere with the tenant’s peace, comfort or privacy in use of the tenancy. They must also take steps to ensure that none of their tenants unreasonably interfere with the quiet enjoyment of any of their other tenants.

Where either the landlord or tenant is in breach of their obligations surrounding quiet enjoyment, they can be issued with a notice to remedy. Where this is not complied with, or the breach is so serious that it would be unfair for the tenancy to continue, an application may be made to the Tenancy Tribunal to end the tenancy and compensation may also be sought against the party who committed the breach.