Renters rights - tenancy moving from fixed term to rolling

[this is my username]

My daughter rented a flat on a 12-month fixed term contract which was due to end later this month, which was what she wanted. She has already got another place to move in to. It appears that her old fixed term contract changed in to a rolling tenancy, and the landlord is now telling her that she has to pay another month as she didn't give them notice that she was leaving.

Her admin is a bit chaotic, so it is quite possible that she received an email that was ignored, but she has not acknowledged or signed up to any change in her contract.

Anything she can do, or is this an unintended consequence of her rights being "improved"? All she wants to do is leave on the date specified in the contract that she signed. Just to make it all better, she's a junior doctor and in common with many of her peers she is now unemployed as the NHS doesn't have any jobs for them ....

She's contacting CAB, but there response may take a while so any experience or knowledge from PH would be appreciated.

[davek_964]

She didn't need to sign up for anything. The rules changed in April and the concept of fixed term disappeared.

She should have received an email / letter from the landlord by the end of May notifying her of the rule change. It's worth checking that she did.

But because the rules changed, she does have to give 2 months notice.

[HTP99]

My daughter and her boyfriend are having a bit of a mare at the moment, they want to move, have to give 2 months notice yet almost everywhere they see, they want someone in, in a month.

Only shining light is they weren't informed by the landlord of the renters rights changes which I believe there was an obligation to do so by a certain date which has since long passed, which could result in a hefty fine for the landlord so they could use that angle as a bargaining tool to give only 1 month notice, issue is the landlord is her aunt and uncle (my wife's brother and his wife), so a family issue may well be on the horizon!!

[LemonParty]

If her old contract stated one month notice, then this is all she needs to give - the RRA aimed to not disadvantage tenants with regards to the notice period. However, if it did not state a notice period, then two months' notice is required.
She should have been issued with an information sheet regarding the Renter's Right's Act in May, either by post or email from the landlord or agent. If she hasn't received this (the landlord/agent should be able to show proof that it was served) then they are at fault.
As with all these things, check her contract is the first port of call.

[davek_964]

LemonParty said:

If her old contract stated one month notice, then this is all she needs to give - the RRA aimed to not disadvantage tenants with regards to the notice period. However, if it did not state a notice period, then two months' notice is required.

Hmm, I've never seen that mentioned anywhere. I thought it was always 2 months now - and always 4 months for the landlord regardless of what the original tenancy agreement said.

[this is my username]

Thanks all - what you have said kind of makes sense. Not the good kind of sense, but sense!

I think she is probably on the hook for this, but we will see. She's moving in to her new place at the moment, so finding her contract may take a while!

[solo2]

HTP99 said:

My daughter and her boyfriend are having a bit of a mare at the moment, they want to move, have to give 2 months notice yet almost everywhere they see, they want someone in, in a month.

Only shining light is they weren't informed by the landlord of the renters rights changes which I believe there was an obligation to do so by a certain date which has since long passed, which could result in a hefty fine for the landlord so they could use that angle as a bargaining tool to give only 1 month notice, issue is the landlord is her aunt and uncle (my wife's brother and his wife), so a family issue may well be on the horizon!!

My daughter is having similar issues. She didn't want to give notice on her current place until she has secured somewhere as she & her husband have kids and also two previous accepted offers have then gone to other tenants before a contract was signed such is the demand around here for homes.

She's now given notice in the hope she can secure somewhere otherwise I will have the 4 of them and 2 more cats under my roof for a while!

[Wings]

The Renters Rights Act commenced 1 May 2026, after that date if will not be possible for any assured tenancy agreement to have a fixed term or a set end date. All tenancies will automatically become rolling tenancies from 1 May 2026 (sometimes known as periodic tenancies). One’s periodic tenancy will then continue until the tenant/s decided together to end the tenancy, or the tenant gives Notice, or the landlord ends it, with a valid legal reason.

For a tenant to serve a valid notice, then the tenant must serve a written two (2) months Notice, ending on the day before the day the rent is normally due/paid.

All landlords/agents were required to serve on tenants a paper copy, and not a digital copy, of the Renters Rights Leaflet by 31st May 2026, and any new tenancies within one calendar month. Failure to serve a tenant with the Renters Rights Leaflet could face the landlord with a fine up to £7000.

This LL personally issued all his tenants with a paper copy of the above leaflet, and insisted that the tenants receipted a copy of receiving the same. In the OP’s daughter’s case, did she receive a paper copy, and/or did she receipt receiving a copy of the leaflet.

[Kwackersaki]

Wings said:

The Renters Rights Act commenced 1 May 2026, after that date if will not be possible for any assured tenancy agreement to have a fixed term or a set end date. All tenancies will automatically become rolling tenancies from 1 May 2026 (sometimes known as periodic tenancies). One s periodic tenancy will then continue until the tenant/s decided together to end the tenancy, or the tenant gives Notice, or the landlord ends it, with a valid legal reason.

For a tenant to serve a valid notice, then the tenant must serve a written two (2) months Notice, ending on the day before the day the rent is normally due/paid.

All landlords/agents were required to serve on tenants a paper copy, and not a digital copy, of the Renters Rights Leaflet by 31st May 2026, and any new tenancies within one calendar month. Failure to serve a tenant with the Renters Rights Leaflet could face the landlord with a fine up to £7000.

This LL personally issued all his tenants with a paper copy of the above leaflet, and insisted that the tenants receipted a copy of receiving the same. In the OP s daughter s case, did she receive a paper copy, and/or did she receipt receiving a copy of the leaflet.

Can you not also send it as a PDF attachment via email?

[Wings]

Kwackersaki said:

Can you not also send it as a PDF attachment via email?

Yes, but must be the exact unedited government's PDF file . This LL however wanted a signed receipt of the tenant receiving a hard paper copy of the Renters Rights Leaflet.

[Kwackersaki]

Wings said:

Kwackersaki said:

Can you not also send it as a PDF attachment via email?

Yes, but must be the exact unedited government's PDF file . This LL however wanted a signed receipt of the tenant receiving a hard paper copy of the Renters Rights Leaflet.

Thanks. Just double checked on Uk gov as that’s what we did and then messaged the tenants and got them to confirm they’d received it.

We’re some distance away from them but are visiting next week so may also take a hard copy.

[Sir Bagalot]

Wings said:

For a tenant to serve a valid notice, then the tenant must serve a written two (2) months Notice, ending on the day before the day the rent is normally due/paid.

Incorrect. The tenants notice remains as per the contract at one month

Wings said:

All landlords/agents were required to serve on tenants a paper copy, and not a digital copy, of the Renters Rights Leaflet by 31st May 2026, and any new tenancies within one calendar month.

Incorrect. You could serve by emailing a link to the leaflet on the GOV website. I also believe you could email a PDF of said leaflet.

[Opapayer]

this is my username said:

My daughter rented a flat on a 12-month fixed term contract which was due to end later this month, which was what she wanted. She has already got another place to move in to. It appears that her old fixed term contract changed in to a rolling tenancy, and the landlord is now telling her that she has to pay another month as she didn't give them notice that she was leaving.

Her admin is a bit chaotic, so it is quite possible that she received an email that was ignored, but she has not acknowledged or signed up to any change in her contract.

Anything she can do, or is this an unintended consequence of her rights being "improved"? All she wants to do is leave on the date specified in the contract that she signed. Just to make it all better, she's a junior doctor and in common with many of her peers she is now unemployed as the NHS doesn't have any jobs for them ....

She's contacting CAB, but there response may take a while so any experience or knowledge from PH would be appreciated.

Tenancies didn’t just end on a date before the RRA. Both sides had to give notice if they weren’t extending it. With no notice then tenancies just automatically became rolling tenancies. From a tenants perspective, on that aspect alone, nothing has really changed, if their intention was to stay. The changes affect the length, method and reasons that a landlord could give for serving notice. If a tenant wants to stay or leave at the end of a contract they have neither gained nor lost any rights, if the landlord is happy for them to stay. It’s the landlord who has lost options.

There is no unintended consequence, your daughter has simply failed to read and understand her contract and failed in her obligations to end the contract correctly.

A sensible landlord would have served notice of an annual rent increase, which could / should have prompted action from your daughter, but not all landlords increase rent annually and are happy to leave things alone. She doesn’t need to receive any notice that the tenancy is moving to a rolling basis. It just does that automatically, this is likely to be documented in her initial contract. Without sight of the initial contract then nobody can really tell you what would have happened before, but everyone can tell you with absolute certainty that the tenancy is rolling and she needs to serve notice in line with the contract terms, which most likely meets the legal requirements. She’s unlikely to have a get out due to loss of job, or not being very good with admin. Landlords don’t amd risk huge fines for failures, it cuts both ways in the adult world.

[croyde]

I have been in my place nearly 5 years now. Each year the LLs agent calls me around Christmas and asks if I want another year starting end of March.

So despite me signing a contract for yet another year back in March of this year (2026) am I now on a rolling contract?

So far he's never put the rent up, as long as I agree to a year every renewal.

[Opapayer]

croyde said:

I have been in my place nearly 5 years now. Each year the LLs agent calls me around Christmas and asks if I want another year starting end of March.

So despite me signing a contract for yet another year back in March of this year (2026) am I now on a rolling contract?

So far he's never put the rent up, as long as I agree to a year every renewal.

Yes. You’ve neither gained nor lost anything in the change in reality around the contract length though. Your landlord seems a bit clueless and is probably breaching multiple parts of the new laws around this. You might want to keep that in your back pocket if you’re happy with things currently.

Some basics here that you should already have been advised of by him.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69b...

[croyde]

Thanks for your reply

[Sir Bagalot]

croyde said:

I have been in my place nearly 5 years now. Each year the LLs agent calls me around Christmas and asks if I want another year starting end of March.

So despite me signing a contract for yet another year back in March of this year (2026) am I now on a rolling contract?

So far he's never put the rent up, as long as I agree to a year every renewal.

Your LL is clueless and the Agent is milking them for tenancy renewal fees

[Wings]

Sir Bagalot said:

Incorrect. You could serve by emailing a link to the leaflet on the GOV website. I also believe you could email a PDF of said leaflet.

The link below requires only a hard paper copy or PDF of renters rights leaflet via email to be sserved to
tenant/s, with no links valid. Also ALL assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreements roll over from 1 May into a periodic tenancy, requireing tenant/s to serve two (2) months notice to end their tenancy, OR if both tenant/s and Landlord agree a shorter Notice in writing.


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-ren...

[Wings]

croyde said:

I have been in my place nearly 5 years now. Each year the LLs agent calls me around Christmas and asks if I want another year starting end of March.

So despite me signing a contract for yet another year back in March of this year (2026) am I now on a rolling contract?

So far he's never put the rent up, as long as I agree to a year every renewal.

See link below, your tenancy is now a rolling periodic tenancy. Did the agent provide you with a Renters Rights Leaflet by 31 May 2026, if not then you should retain that information for possible future referral.


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-ren...

[this is my username]

Opapayer said:

Tenancies didn t just end on a date before the RRA. Both sides had to give notice if they weren t extending it. With no notice then tenancies just automatically became rolling tenancies. From a tenants perspective, on that aspect alone, nothing has really changed, if their intention was to stay. The changes affect the length, method and reasons that a landlord could give for serving notice. If a tenant wants to stay or leave at the end of a contract they have neither gained nor lost any rights, if the landlord is happy for them to stay. It s the landlord who has lost options.

There is no unintended consequence, your daughter has simply failed to read and understand her contract and failed in her obligations to end the contract correctly.

A sensible landlord would have served notice of an annual rent increase, which could / should have prompted action from your daughter, but not all landlords increase rent annually and are happy to leave things alone. She doesn t need to receive any notice that the tenancy is moving to a rolling basis. It just does that automatically, this is likely to be documented in her initial contract. Without sight of the initial contract then nobody can really tell you what would have happened before, but everyone can tell you with absolute certainty that the tenancy is rolling and she needs to serve notice in line with the contract terms, which most likely meets the legal requirements. She s unlikely to have a get out due to loss of job, or not being very good with admin. Landlords don t amd risk huge fines for failures, it cuts both ways in the adult world.

Thanks for the info. It's 35 years since I rented anywhere so I'm clueless about this stuff. Evidently so is she. Sounds like an expensive lesson in adulting is being learned ......