Landlord guidance

Ending a tenancy

If you want your tenants to leave, you must give them notice in a particular way, including certain information and warnings. This depends on the type of tenancy agreement and its terms.

Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs)

In some circumstances you can take back your property without giving any reason. To do this, all of the following must apply:

You have protected your tenants' deposit in a deposit protection scheme.
You have given your tenants at least two months' written notice that you want the property back ('notice to quit') and the date they must leave.
The date they must leave is at least six months after the original tenancy began (the one they signed on first moving in).
They have a periodic tenancy, or they have a fixed-term tenancy and you are not asking them to leave before the end of the fixed term.

If your tenants are still in the fixed-term, you can only ask them to leave if you have a reason for wanting possession that is stated in the Housing Act 1988.

Examples of reasons include:

Your tenants are behind with rent payments ('in arrears').
Your tenants have used the property for illegal purposes, for example selling drugs.

Depending on the reason you're using, the notice period you must give could vary from two weeks to two months.

The Department for Communities and Local Government has information on reasons for possession for a property let on an AST.

If there's a break clause in the tenancy agreement, you can give your tenants notice after this. However, you do not have a guaranteed right to possession during the first six months of the tenancy.

Assured tenancies

You will need to use one of the reasons for possession in the Housing Act 1988.

Excluded tenancies or licences

If you live with a lodger and share rooms with them, you'll often have an excluded tenancy or licence.

In this case, you only need to give 'reasonable notice' to quit. Usually this means the length of the rental payment period. So, if you collect rent weekly, you'll need to give one weeks' notice.

Non-excluded tenancy or licence

You can end the agreement at any time by serving a written 'notice to quit'. The notice period will depend on the tenancy or agreement, but it's usually at least four weeks.

You cannot remove your tenants by force. If the notice period expires and your tenants do not leave the property, you can start the process of eviction through the courts.