How much notice does a landlord have to give a tenant?

In England, landlord notice periods for private assured tenancies changed from 1 May 2026: Section 21 has gone and landlords now use possession grounds with different notice periods. Wales and Northern Ireland have separate rules, so the UK answer is not one single number.

How much notice does a landlord have to give a tenant?

In England, a landlord usually gives 4 months’ notice for the main post-1 May 2026 private-tenancy possession grounds, but some grounds are shorter: serious rent arrears under Ground 8 is 4 weeks, and Ground 14 anti-social behaviour has no notice period before a court application. That is the practical answer to how much notice a landlord has to give their tenants now, how much notice must be given to vacate, and what the notice period is for grounds of possession: the reason for possession controls the notice period. Government guidance says for Ground 1 that “You must give 4 months’ notice before applying to court for a possession order to evict your tenant,” for Ground 8 that “You must give 4 weeks’ notice before you can apply to the court,” and for Ground 14 that “You do not need to give your tenant a notice period.” Notice is not the same as eviction: court time comes after it, and the official median claim-to-repossession time in April–June 2026 was 27.1 weeks.

Can you still give a tenant notice to leave without a reason?

In England, a private landlord can no longer give a tenant notice to leave without a reason, because Section 21 cannot be used after 1 May 2026 and possession now needs a statutory ground. GOV.UK states that “Landlords cannot use section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to seek possession of their property” and that “you will need to have a reason, known as a ground for possession, to end the tenancy.” That means the old no-fault landlord notice to end a tenancy in England has been replaced by a grounds-based route such as sale, landlord occupation, rent arrears, breach, or anti-social behaviour. The words can I give a tenant notice to vacate now need a second question in England: what ground are you relying on? Wales is different, because a periodic standard contract can still be ended by a landlord’s notice without giving a reason, while Scotland does not allow eviction for no reason.

When can you serve notice on your tenant?

In England, you can serve notice on your tenant when the ground you rely on allows it, but for the key landlord-moving-in and sale grounds the notice can be served early only if the date in the notice falls after the tenant has been in the property for 12 months. GOV.UK says for Grounds 1 and 1A that “You can serve the notice of possession earlier, but the date in the notice must be after they have been in the property for 12 months.” A Section 8 notice also has a shelf life: the Housing Act 1988 requires the notice to say that proceedings “will not begin later than twelve months from the date of service of the notice.” The useful rule is therefore not simply when can I serve notice on my tenant, but whether the ground has a protected period, a notice period, and a deadline for starting court proceedings.

How much notice do you have to give on a rolling or periodic tenancy?

In England, a landlord ending a rolling or periodic assured tenancy uses the same grounds-based system as any other assured tenancy, so many landlord grounds require 4 months’ notice, while a tenant ending the tenancy generally gives at least 2 months unless a valid written agreement allows less. GOV.UK’s landlord overview says: “In many cases this is 4 months, although for some grounds it is shorter.” On the tenant side, the post-1 May 2026 statutory wording requires, where there is no shorter written agreement, “not less than two months before the date on which the notice is to take effect,” and GOV.UK tells tenants: “If your tenancy agreement does not say how much notice you must give, you need to give at least 2 months’ notice.” The landlord notice on a rolling contract is therefore not a separate, easier notice-to-quit route; the real difference is that tenants now have a two-month default notice rule, with older shorter terms potentially still valid.

How much notice does a landlord have to give a tenant in Wales?

In Wales, a landlord’s no-fault notice under section 173 for a periodic standard contract must give at least 6 months’ notice, and it cannot be served during the first 6 months of occupation. The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 says: “The date specified in a notice under section 173 may not be less than six months after the day on which the notice is given to the contract-holder.” It also says: “The landlord may not give notice under section 173 before the end of the period of six months starting with the occupation date of the contract.” In plain terms, a compliant contract-holder under a new Welsh occupation contract normally gets at least a year before the no-fault leave date can arrive: six months before the landlord can serve the notice, then six months’ notice. Gov.wales summarises that a contract-holder who has not breached the contract is entitled to “a minimum of one year.”

How much notice does a landlord have to give a tenant in Northern Ireland?

In Northern Ireland, the current landlord notice to quit is 4 weeks where the tenancy has existed for 12 months or less, and 8 weeks where it has existed for more than 12 months but not more than 10 years; the longer 4-, 6- and 7-month figures printed in amended legislation are not yet in force. The Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 transitional wording gives “4 weeks, if the tenancy has not been in existence for more than 12 months” and “8 weeks, if the tenancy has been in existence for more than 12 months but not for more than 10 years.” The reason many pages get this wrong is that the amended Article 14 text shows longer bands, but the commencement section says those provisions come into operation only when the first regulations under Article 14(5) come into operation. The Department for Communities confirms the point: “Before the longer notice periods can come into operation, regulations must be in place.”

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• GOV.UK, Grounds for possession guidance for landlords and letting agents — “You must give 4 months’ notice before applying to court for a possession order to evict your tenant.” Source
• GOV.UK, Grounds for possession guidance for landlords and letting agents — “You must give 4 weeks’ notice before you can apply to the court for a possession order to evict your tenant.” Source
• GOV.UK, Grounds for possession guidance for landlords and letting agents — “You do not need to give your tenant a notice period as you can apply to the court straight away for a possession order to evict your tenant.” Source
• Ministry of Justice, Mortgage and landlord possession statistics April to June 2026 — “The median average time from claim to landlord repossession has decreased to 27.1 weeks, down from 27.9 weeks in the same period in 2025.” Source
• GOV.UK, Repossessing your privately rented property after 1 May 2026 — “Landlords cannot use section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to seek possession of their property.” Source
• GOV.UK, Repossessing your privately rented property after 1 May 2026 — “This means that you will need to have a reason, known as a ground for possession, to end the tenancy.” Source
• Gov.wales, Renting Homes frequently asked questions: landlords — “A landlord may issue a landlord’s notice to a contract-holder to end a periodic standard contract without having to give a reason for doing so.” Source
• mygov.scot, If your landlord wants to end your private residential tenancy — “You cannot evict your tenant for no reason.” Source
• GOV.UK, Repossessing your privately rented property after 1 May 2026 — “You can serve the notice of possession earlier, but the date in the notice must be after they have been in the property for 12 months.” Source
• Housing Act 1988, section 8 — “(c)those proceedings will not begin later than twelve months from the date of service of the notice.” Source
• GOV.UK, Renters’ Rights Act: an overview for landlords — “In many cases this is 4 months, although for some grounds it is shorter.” Source
• Protection from Eviction Act 1977, section 5 — “(ii)in the absence of agreement under sub-paragraph (i), not less than two months before the date on which the notice is to take effect;” Source
• GOV.UK, Assured periodic tenancies: how tenants can end a tenancy — “If your tenancy agreement does not say how much notice you must give, you need to give at least 2 months’ notice.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, section 174 — “The date specified in a notice under section 173 may not be less than six months after the day on which the notice is given to the contract-holder.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, section 175 — “The landlord may not give notice under section 173 before the end of the period of six months starting with the occupation date of the contract.” Source
• Gov.wales, Renting Homes frequently asked questions: landlords — “This means, for any new contract under the Act (that is, with an occupation date of 1 December 2022 or later) a contract-holder who does not breach the terms of their contract is entitled to occupy the dwelling for a minimum of one year.” Source
• Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, section 11 — “(a)4 weeks, if the tenancy has not been in existence for more than 12 months;” Source
• Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, section 11 — “(b)8 weeks, if the tenancy has been in existence for more than 12 months but not for more than 10 years;” Source
• Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, section 14 — “Section 11(4), in so far as it substitutes paragraph (1A) of Article 14 of the 2006 Order and inserts paragraphs (3) and (4) into that Article, comes into operation on the coming into operation of the first regulations made under Article 14(5) of the 2006 Order (as inserted by section 11(4)).” Source
• Department for Communities Northern Ireland, Consultation on notice to quit periods — “Before the longer notice periods can come into operation, regulations must be in place to set out circumstances where longer notice periods would not apply.” Source