Rent Days or Tenancy Periods? The Notice to Quit Dilemma

When stage 1 of the Renters Rights Act 2025 comes into force on 1 May 2026, fixed terms will be abolished, and tenants will be able to serve a tenant’s Notice to Quit at any time.

Including from day 1 of the tenancy.

So what is a tenant’s Notice to Quit? (A quick refresher)

A Notice to Quit is a special form of notice used to end a tenancy. It can only be served during a periodic tenancy.

It is different from a section 8 notice (for example) as this is used by landlords to seek possession but does not in itself end the tenancy.

Notices to quit cannot be used by landlords for assured tenancies because section 5 of the Housing Act 1988 (which regulates assured tenancies) says so. But tenants can.

So if a tenant serves a valid Notice to Quit on a landlord, their tenancy will end automatically at the end of the notice period. Meaning if the tenant fails to move out, the landlord can evict them through the courts.

So what is a valid Notice to Quit?

It needs to be in writing and give the correct notice period.  But there is one issue which is not entirely clear.  When must the notice expire?

There is a real risk that if the expiry date is wrong, the notice is invalid. This could be a problem if tenants stayed on and the landlord wanted to evict them on the basis that their tenancy had ended.

There are several possible solutions. Let’s take a look at them.

In legislation

The main legislation dealing with notices to quit is the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. The Renters Rights Act will add a new section 1ZA, which says (in normal language)

• It can be for any notice period agreed between the landlord and tenants, so long as this is not more than two months, otherwise
• If there is no such agreement, it must be given “not less than two months before the date on which the notice is to take effect”

Which begs the question, what does ‘the date on which the notice is to take effect’ mean?

Does it mean that it can end on any day in the month, so long as the notice period is two months? Or is this referring to existing law relating to the expiry dates of notices to quit?

The common law rule

There is a longstanding common law rule that notices to quit must end at the end of a period of the tenancy.

• So if the period of the tenancy runs from the first day of the month to the last day, the notice must end on the next last day of the month after the required notice period (in this case, two months)
• If the period runs from the 15th day of the month to the 14th, the notice must end on the next 14th day of the month after two months
• If the period runs from Saturday to Friday, the notice must end on the next Friday after two months.

This is clear, but the problem is that most tenants don’t know about it. And anyway, does this longstanding common law rule still apply (to assured tenancies) in the post Renters Rights Act world?

The government guidance

The government, in their guidance, refer to ‘rent days’.

So, in the information sheet which must be given to existing tenants before 31 May, they say the notice should end “on a day when the rent is due or the day before the rent is due “

I assume that this is on the basis that most landlords will require their tenants to pay rent on the first day of the period. So in our examples above, on the 1st day or the 15th day of the month.

However, sometimes landlords agree that tenants can pay rent on a different day in the month – for example, to help them if their salary is paid on a different day.

If this day is used in the Notice to Quit – will it be a valid notice?

If there was a dispute about the validity of the notice to quit, would the court accept the government’s guidance as binding on it? I can’t see any indication that this is statutory guidance (which would be binding on the court), but I could have missed something.

Notice ending by agreement

The Renters Rights Act says that the notice period can be agreed, but then goes on (in s21 or 5A(4) of the PEA1977) to say that an agreement is not valid unless it is made between the landlord and all the tenants.

So if a joint tenant served a Notice to Quit when his co-tenants wanted to stay, they would be unlikely to agree.

Agreement in the tenancy agreement

Probably the best way to decide this is to refer to it in the tenancy agreement. Assuming all tenants will have signed this, then this will decide matters.

But what would be the best way to do this? Bearing in mind that tenants tend not to read tenancy agreements?

• Should it take the traditional view and say the notice must end on the last day of a period of the tenancy after two months?
• Should it follow the government’s guidance and require the notice period to end on the next rent day after two months? Or
• Should it just say that they must give not less than two months’ written notice, from the date the notice is served on the landlord and that if this does not end on a rent day, the rent will be apportioned?

Or do you have another suggestion?

I would love to have your views. How are you dealing with this issue? Please use the comments box below.