Fixed-term tenancy

For decades the default shape of a private tenancy in England — a set number of months, then a decision point. Since 1 May 2026 it no longer exists for assured tenancies: every one of them is now periodic, whatever the paperwork says.

Do fixed-term tenancies still exist at all?

Not for assured tenancies in England. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 abolished fixed-term assured tenancies and assured shorthold tenancies, so an assured tenancy of a dwelling in England can now only be periodic. This applied to new tenancies and, unusually, to existing ones too, from 1 May 2026. Some tenancy types outside the assured regime — certain company lets, long leases, and tenancies in Wales or Scotland, which run under different legislation — are not affected in the same way.

My tenancy agreement still says it runs for 12 months. Does that still apply?

The written agreement itself has not been torn up and its other terms generally continue to apply. But if it is an assured tenancy in England, the fixed-term end date in it stopped having legal effect on 1 May 2026. You are not locked in until that date, and the landlord cannot rely on it expiring to ask you to leave. The tenancy is now periodic, whatever the paper says.

Did my tenancy end on 1 May 2026?

No. Your tenancy did not end and you did not need to sign anything new. It converted automatically: the fixed term stopped having effect and the same tenancy continued as an assured periodic tenancy, on the same rent and the same other terms, rolling on until you give notice or the landlord obtains a possession order on a valid ground.

Can I leave without giving notice now that the fixed term does not apply?

No. The abolition of the fixed term removed the restriction on leaving before a set date, but it did not remove the requirement to give notice. As a periodic tenant you generally need to give two months' written notice, timed to expire at the end of a rent period, before you can lawfully leave without being liable for further rent.

Can my landlord still evict me once what would have been my fixed term ends?

Not by relying on the end date alone, and not with a section 21 notice — that route was abolished at the same time as fixed terms. A landlord now has to serve a notice specifying a ground for possession under Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988, give the notice period that ground carries, and, if you do not leave, satisfy a court that the ground is made out.

Does this apply to my tenancy in Wales or Scotland?

No. This page describes assured tenancies in England under the Housing Act 1988 as amended by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Wales moved to a different system — occupation contracts under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 — some years earlier, and Scotland has its own Private Residential Tenancy regime, being further amended by separate Scottish legislation. Check the equivalent Welsh or Scottish guidance rather than applying this page to a tenancy outside England.

What a fixed-term tenancy traditionally was

For nearly forty years, the fixed-term assured shorthold tenancy (AST) was the default way to let a home privately in England. A landlord granted the tenancy for a set period — typically six or twelve months, sometimes longer — recorded in the written agreement. During that period neither side could normally bring the tenancy to an end early: the tenant was committed to paying rent for the full term, and the landlord could not usually recover the property before it expired, except on limited statutory grounds such as serious rent arrears or anti-social behaviour.

A fixed term gave both sides certainty for its duration — the tenant knew the rent would not change and the home was theirs for that period; the landlord had a fixed minimum let they could rely on. What it did not give the tenant was flexibility: leaving before the end date generally required the landlord's agreement, a formal assignment, or a break clause specifically written into the agreement, and not every tenancy had one.

What happened when the fixed term ended, before the reform

Once a fixed term expired, three things could happen. The parties could agree a new fixed term, in effect starting the same cycle again. The landlord and tenant could let the tenancy run on without a new agreement, in which case section 5 of the Housing Act 1988 automatically created a

on the same terms, rolling on period by period. Or the landlord could use the point at which the fixed term ended as a natural moment to serve a

and seek possession without giving any reason at all — the so-called “no-fault” route, which fixed terms made procedurally convenient even though section 21 itself did not require a fixed term to have ended.

In practice, the fixed term functioned as a recurring decision point that favoured the landlord: renew, let it roll into a periodic tenancy, or end it. The tenant had little say beyond negotiating at renewal, and once the fixed term had expired a section 21 notice could be served relatively easily, which is part of why fixed terms were widely seen as offering landlords more control than tenants.

The abolition, and when it happened

received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025, but most of it did not take effect that day — it has been switched on in phases by commencement regulations. The main tenancy changes, including the abolition of fixed-term and shorthold assured tenancies and the end of section 21, commenced on

From that date, an assured tenancy of a dwelling in England can no longer be granted for, or continue as, a fixed term. Critically, this was not limited to new lettings. Every existing assured shorthold tenancy in England, however far through its fixed term, converted to an assured periodic tenancy on 1 May 2026 — the fixed term simply stopped having effect, and the same tenancy continued on the same rent and other terms, now rolling on indefinitely rather than running to an end date. Transitional provisions in the commencement regulations dealt with the narrow case where a section 21 notice had already been served before the switchover: those notices could still be relied on only if the landlord asked the court to start possession proceedings by 31 July 2026, or within six months of the notice if that came first.

No new agreement, deed of variation or re-signing was required to make this happen. It was a change made by statute to the legal character of the tenancy, not a renegotiation between landlord and tenant.

What it means in practice for tenants and landlords

For a tenant, the practical effects are mostly about flexibility and predictability. You are no longer locked into paying for a home for a fixed number of months regardless of your circumstances — you can bring the tenancy to an end at any point by giving proper notice (generally two months, expiring at the end of a rent period), rather than waiting for a fixed term to run out or negotiating an early release. The trade-off is that rent is no longer fixed for a set period either: it can be increased once a year using the statutory

procedure, though you can refer a proposed increase you consider too high to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), which will not simply rubber-stamp the landlord's figure.

For a landlord, the fixed term is no longer available as a scheduling tool for ending a tenancy. You cannot let a fixed term "run out" and decline to renew, and you cannot use an approaching or past end date, by itself, as a ground for possession — there is no longer a fixed term to run out. To recover the property you now need a valid ground under Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 as amended (for example, wanting to sell, a family member moving in, or the tenant being in serious arrears), served with the notice period that ground carries, followed by a possession claim in the county court if the tenant does not leave.

Scope: this is about England

This page describes assured tenancies in England under the Housing Act 1988 as amended by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. Housing law is devolved, and the other UK nations did not go through the same reform on the same date. Wales replaced assured shorthold tenancies with a different structure, occupation contracts, under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, which took full effect several years before England's reform. Scotland has run its own Private Residential Tenancy since 2017 and is separately amending it under later Scottish legislation. None of the figures or mechanics on this page — the 1 May 2026 date, section 13, section 21's abolition — apply to a tenancy in Wales or Scotland.

A tenant signs a twelve-month assured shorthold tenancy in January 2026 at £1,050 a month, with the fixed term due to run until January 2027. Under the rules in force at the time she signs, she cannot normally leave before January 2027 without the landlord's agreement, and once the fixed term ends the landlord would have been able to serve a section 21 notice and seek possession without giving a reason.

Fixed term as originally agreed

Status on 1 May 2026

Converts to periodic

On 1 May 2026, four months into the term, nothing changes on paper — she gets no letter, signs nothing, and the rent stays at £1,050. But the legal character of the tenancy changes: the fixed term stops having effect and it becomes an assured periodic tenancy. In July, she is offered a job in another city. Rather than needing the landlord's agreement to leave six months early, she gives two months' written notice, timed to end on a rent day, and the tenancy ends that September — four months before the original fixed term would have expired, with no penalty for leaving before that date.

Had she stayed, the landlord's position would also have changed at what would have been the end of the fixed term. He could not simply decline to renew and expect possession; he would need a ground under Schedule 2, with the notice period that ground carries, and the possibility of her disputing the ground in court.

Assured shorthold tenancy

Renters' Rights Act 2025

Housing Act 1988, section 5 — statutory periodic tenancies

Renters' Rights Act 2025, Part 1 Chapter 1

Implementing the Renters' Rights Act 2025 — roadmap

Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016

Fixed-Term Tenancy — Renters' Rights Glossary

What a fixed-term tenancy was, how it used to end, and how the Renters' Rights Act 2025 abolished fixed-term assured tenancies in England from 1 May 2026.