My tenant moved in on 1st March 2026. He signed a 12 month contract at the time. He has now said he wants to give 2 months notice. Can he do this? It cost a lot to set up the tenancy and I now how the expense of setting up another. I believe I will have to do another EICR. ?
No need for another EICR. That should last you five years. Check the date on the cert.
Yes, under the RRA which came into force on the 1st of May, fixed terms were abolished and any tenant can give 2 months’ notice at any time.
Has the tenant been sent the paperwork about the RRA? Today is the deadline.
@Karen1 under RRA there’s no such thing as a fixed term contract anymore. Maybe you need some training or read up on RRA changes and if you dont understand a new eicr isnt needed - eicrs last 5 years
2
yes 2 months notice under RRA. Copy of guidance below
- If you didnt send the info leaflet by today 31 may latest you face a £7000 FINE
Good luck
"
If your tenant wants to leave
The tenancy agreement should say how much notice your tenants need to give before they can leave the property.
The maximum notice you can ask your tenant for is 2 months.
If the tenancy agreement does not say how much notice your tenant must give, they will need to give at least 2 months’ notice.
You can agree with your tenant to end the tenancy earlier or have a shorter notice period. This will need to be in writing.
Your tenant must give their notice:
*** so the tenancy ends on a day when the rent is due or the day before the rent is due**
*** in writing, for example, by letter, email or text"**
And
" If more than one tenant is on the same assured periodic tenancy agreement
This is a ‘joint tenancy’.
If a joint tenant wants to leave, one tenant will usually be able to end the joint tenancy without the agreement of the other tenants.
If a joint tenant asks to give a shorter notice period, all the other joint tenants will need to agree to the shorter notice period."
Assured periodic tenancies: a guide for landlords
What to include in an assured periodic tenancy agreement, if a tenant wants a pet, dealing with antisocial behaviour and ending an assured periodic tenancy.
I did send ( well OpenRent) sent my tenant the documents regarding the new RRA rules and I did read them. I know that each tenancy agreement becomes periodic with no fixed end date. However my tenant had only been in for 2 months and told me he wants to give me 2 months notice. As you know it takes a lot of time and money to set up a new tenancy ,so I wasn’t expecting to start all over again so soon. He initially agreed to 12 months.
Also I am sure that despite a new EICR having been done, when a new tenant moves in, a new EICR needs to be done.
Yes he got the documents - OpenRent sent them.
I am aware an EICR lasts 5 yrs - however the rule is that if a tenant moves out before the expiration date then a new one needs to be done. The exiting tenant could have messed with the electrics.
No that’s not a rule at all, actually. That’s based on a misunderstanding and outdated guidance for social housing.
See nrla post about this (extract below)
Since tenants stay an average of 4 years an EICR would wrongly be needed by that ‘rule’ more often than legally needed .
Sometimes electricians will specify shorter periods eg for a very old system or one that gets above average use, and of course if there is any indication of problems like rcd regularly tripping then it’s wise to get the electrics checked out. But it’d be a nonsense to wait till tenants have moved out. It’s a safety issue so if something needs checking the obligation is to do it asap as part of LL duty to provide safe accommodation.
If a tenant moves out after 2 months you don’t need a new EICR at all
Best
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"How often should an EICR be performed?
Unfortunately, there are a small number of inspectors who do not appear to be following the requirements in the regulations though.
The regulations require that electrical installations are tested at regular intervals of no more than 5 years. This means that an EICR should clearly state a specific period of time for which the report will remain valid, usually 5 years. During this time the report remains valid and can be given to any tenants who move into the property over the period.
However, some inspectors are not setting out their EICRs like this. Sometimes the EICR will state that it will last for ‘five years, or until a change of tenancy’ for example. Our research found that this was put on just over 7% of EICRs issued in the last year. This is a holdover from old guidance for inspections of social housing, suggesting the inspector is referring to outdated information.
As change of tenancy is not a specific time period it shouldn’t affect the validity of the EICR. However, inaccurate information causes confusion for landlords and tenants when they find it on their report.
The NRLA has raised this with MHCLG, who have confirmed that this should not be appearing on reports. They have also confirmed that they have spoken to the relevant trade bodies to make it clear they should update any outdated guidance they have.
Where we have found examples of this outdated guidance we have also contacted the trade body directly, leading to them changing or amending the information they provide.
What should you do to avoid this happening?
Speak to the inspector beforehand and discuss whether they think including ‘change of tenancy’ on an EICR is appropriate. The vast majority of inspectors are issuing EICRs correctly so this should highlight any that aren’t.
If your EICR has ‘change of tenancy’ written on it already then you should query this with the inspector and ask them to speak to their trade body for guidance. They should then provide them with the correct way to fill out an EICR. "
Welcome to the RRA.
For far, far too long, Ts have not had the flexibility to move out when they want/need to and LLs have kept them bound to unreasonably long fixed terms . As a LL, I feel it’s only fair that they can do this.
Other opinions are available.
Setting up a new tenancy does take time, I’ll grant you, but minimal money if you learn to self-manage (advertising and referencing costs max). This has been coming for a long while and LLs now need to make sure they budget for the expense of voids and new tenancies at a higher level than they have done previously. They also need to be far more cautious about who they let to in an attempt to avoid high turnover.
As David has pointed out, this has never been a rule. There may be other rules that you may be under the impression you need to adhere to or, of more concern, others that you may be unaware of. I would strongly advise that if you are going to continue being a LL for years to come that you join a LL association and do their training. Yes, it costs money, but it can save you potentially thousands of pounds.
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