Periodic Tenancy

A periodic tenancy is a rolling tenancy that continues from one period to the next, for example week to week or, most commonly, month to month, until either the landlord or the tenant legally brings it to an end. There is no fixed end date.

A tenancy can be periodic from the start, or it can arise automatically when a fixed-term tenancy ends and the tenant stays in the property with the landlord’s consent and without signing a new fixed term. The “period” usually follows how rent is paid, for example a monthly contractual periodic tenancy if rent is paid monthly.

To end a periodic tenancy, the tenant must give the correct notice to quit set out in the tenancy agreement or, if that is silent, under common law. This is normally at least one full tenancy period in writing. The landlord must use the statutory possession process in force at the time, for example relying on the new Renters’ Rights Act grounds for possession rather than the old “no-fault” Section 21 route where that has been abolished.

With the Renters Rights Act we are moving towards periodic tenancies as the standard form in the private rented sector (PRS), with stronger safeguards on notice, eviction and redress for renters.