Since 1 May 2026, a private tenant in England gives two months’ notice to end their tenancy, at any time, without needing a reason. You do not have to wait for a fixed term to expire, because fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies no longer exist — the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 converted every private tenancy into an assured periodic tenancy. Your agreement can provide for shorter notice, and your landlord can agree to accept less in writing, but if neither applies, two months is what you owe.
When the two months starts and ends
Notice runs from the day your landlord receives it, and has to end on the last day of a rent period. That second part is what catches people. If your rent is due on the 5th of each month and you give notice on 20 September, two months takes you to 20 November — but the notice has to expire at the end of a rent period, so the practical end date becomes 4 December. You are liable for rent up to that date.
The fix is simple: work backwards from the rent due date rather than from the day you happen to decide. Giving notice a fortnight earlier can save you a full month’s rent.
What the notice has to look like
It must be in writing, and it should say clearly that you are ending the tenancy and give the date it ends. There is no prescribed government form for a tenant’s notice, unlike the landlord’s Section 13 rent notice. Email is generally fine, but send it to the address or email in your written statement of terms, keep a copy, and ask for acknowledgement. If you have a paper agreement naming a service address, send it there as well.
If you are one of several joint tenants, be careful. Notice given by one joint tenant can, depending on how the tenancy is drafted, end the tenancy for everyone. This is the situation to get advice on before you send anything.
Things that no longer apply
You cannot be held to a fixed term. If your agreement says 12 months and you are three months in, you can still give two months’ notice. Any clause purporting to lock you in is unenforceable, and a landlord attempting to grant a new fixed term is committing a breach.
You cannot be charged an “early exit” or “surrender” fee for giving proper notice. Fees of that kind were already restricted by the Tenant Fees Act and giving lawful notice is not an early exit.
You do not lose your deposit by leaving. Your deposit is protected in a scheme and can only be deducted against for genuine loss — damage beyond fair wear and tear, unpaid rent, cleaning to the standard in your inventory. How deposit protection is supposed to work.
What you should do before you hand back the keys
Most deposit disputes are decided on evidence, and the tenant who took photographs wins them. Photograph every room, including the inside of the oven and the condition of carpets, on the day you leave. Take final meter readings and photograph those too. Compare against the check-in inventory rather than against your memory of it.
Leave a forwarding address, and cancel the council tax and utilities from your end date rather than your moving date. Council tax liability during a changeover is a common source of unexpected bills. Our end-of-tenancy checklist is written for landlords but it tells you exactly what will be inspected.
If your landlord is the one ending things
Their notice periods are different, and longer. Four months if they intend to sell or move in — and they cannot use those grounds at all in your first 12 months. Four weeks for rent arrears. Section 21 no longer exists, so any notice giving you two months for no stated reason is invalid. What your landlord can and cannot do is set out here.
Renting in Guildford
Timing your notice around the local market is worth a moment’s thought. Guildford’s rental supply tightens sharply in late summer as students arrive, and loosens in the winter months. If you have flexibility, giving notice to land your move outside August and September usually means more choice and less competition. Where local rents sit in 2026.
General information, not legal advice. Property Lounge, Guildford.
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