Tenant notice periods under periodic tenancies: the two-month rule

All assured tenancies in England are now periodic. Tenants can stay until they decide to end the tenancy by giving two months' notice — which changes how landlords plan voids.

The Renters' Rights Act removed fixed-term assured tenancies. As the government's guide to the Act puts it, all tenancies are periodic, with tenants able to stay in their home until they decide to end the tenancy by giving two months' notice.

What changed

The government's stated reasoning for removing fixed terms was that fixed terms oblige renters to pay rent regardless of whether a property is up to standard, and reduce flexibility to move when circumstances change — a relationship breakdown, a new job, or buying a first home.

The Act also removes all leases with a fixed term of more than 21 years from the assured tenancy system.

What it means for landlords

Under the Act, a tenancy ends when the tenant's two months' notice expires.

Voids are less predictable but better signalled. You will not have an end date in the agreement, but you do get two months' warning. Two months is enough time to arrange a gas safety check, an EICR if one is due, remedial works and remarketing — if the certificate dates are already visible to you rather than buried in a folder.

Turnaround speed matters more. With council tax empty-home premiums biting after twelve months of an unoccupied, unfurnished property, a slow turnaround is now a compounding cost.

Your own route out is the possession grounds. Landlords cannot end a tenancy by notice to quit or orally; the prescribed section 8 process is the route, and attempting otherwise is listed as a breach in the government's civil penalties guidance.

What to have ready

• A current record of when each certificate expires, so a two-month notice does not turn into a scramble.
• Dated records of anything you serve during the notice period.

This is general information about published government guidance, not legal advice.

Sources: - GOV.UK - Guide to the Renters Rights Act: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-the-renters-rights-act/guide-to-the-renters-rights-act - Renters Rights Act 2025: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/26 - GOV.UK - Civil penalties under the Renters Rights Act 2025 and other housing legislation: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-penalties-under-the-renters-rights-act-2025-and-other-housing-legislation/civil-penalties-under-the-renters-rights-act-2025-and-other-housing-legislation

Published: 2026-09-11.

Last reviewed: 2026-08-30.

General summary; not legal advice.