Giving notice

Any notice to end a tenancy must:

• be in writing
• give the address of the tenancy
• give the date when the tenancy is to end
• be signed by the person giving the notice
• be served by mail to the address for service. (It doesn’t have to be sent by registered mail or delivered in person, but 4 working days must be added to the notice period to allow for mail delivery time.)

You cannot give notice (and the landlord cannot give you notice) if you have a fixed-term tenancy.

For a periodic tenancy, you must give 21 days’ written notice, unless the landlord agrees in writing to a shorter time.

The landlord must give 90 days’ written notice in most cases. This may be reduced to 42 days if:

• the property has been sold and the new buyers don’t want tenants
• the landlord or the landlord’s family are going to live in the property
• the property is normally used as employee accommodation and is needed again for that purpose, and this is included in the tenancy agreement.

 If the landlord gives you notice, and you want to move out before then, you still need to give your normal notice (21 days) as well. 

Notice to terminate a tenancy can be given on any day of any week to end on any day of any week regardless of when rent is normally paid, or the period that it usually covers.