At the end of a tenancy
When a fixed term contract ends, you and the tenant must decide what happens next.
If the tenant wants to stay, you will need to decide whether to:
- Sign a new fixed term tenancy - you may wish to offer a longer tenancy to reliable tenants
- Continue with a rolling periodic tenancy - this offers flexibility but less security. Either party can ask to vacate at any time by giving proper notice.
- Increase the rent - this can be by agreement or as set out in your tenancy agreement, or by following a procedure set out in law.
If you or the tenant wants to end the tenancy, there are things you must both do:
- Give proper notice - normally, the landlord must give at least 2 months’ notice and the tenant cannot be required to leave before any fixed period of the tenancy has come to end, unless there is a breakout clause. The tenancy agreement should say how much notice tenants must give the landlord if they want to leave the property – one month’s notice is typical.
- Return the deposit - if the tenant has met the terms of their tenancy agreement they should get all of their deposit back at the end of their tenancy. Landlords can withhold part of their deposit to compensate for damage to the property or furnishing or cleaning costs, but not for reasonable wear and tear. You must provide appropriate evidence for any claim you make. Inventories are a good way to do this. You must return the deposit to the tenant within 10 days of you both agreeing how much you’ll keep. If the tenant disagrees with the amount that you decide to withhold from their deposit, they may raise a dispute with your deposit protection scheme. You should check the process of raising a dispute with your relevant scheme.
- Keep paying the rent - tenants cannot withhold rent because they think it will be taken out of the deposit.
- Keep paying the bills - check the tenant has paid the bills they are due to pay.
If a tenant does not leave at the end of the notice period, the landlord must get a court order to recover possession of the property
This applies whether it is a "no fault" section 21 notice process, or eviction via the section 8 notice procedure (eg rent arrears or other tenancy breaches). Landlords must follow the correct possession action process. If the correct legal process is not followed, the court will not grant the order. Attempting to remove a tenant from your property without a court order, eg by changing the locks, is an offence.
Eviction of lodgers on excluded tenancies or licences
If you are a live-in landlord and you have a lodger on an excluded tenancy or licence, you do not have to go to court instead you must give ‘reasonable notice’ to quit. The notice does not have to be in writing and there are no set rules about what’s reasonable. A typical notice period is the duration between rent payments, eg if rent is paid weekly, at least a week's notice must be given. After this period locks can be changed, but any belongings must be returned to the lodger.