MovePlanNotice period to end your tenancy
Since 1 May 2026 almost every assured tenancy in England runs as a rolling tenancy, and the right notice period now depends on how yours got there.
If you're renting in England and timing a move around giving notice, the question isn't just "how much notice" — it's which rules apply to your tenancy specifically, because the Renters' Rights Act changed things part-way through 2026 and didn't change them the same way for everyone.
On 1 May 2026, the ground shifted
Every assured tenancy, including what used to be called an assured shorthold tenancy, automatically became a rolling periodic tenancy on 1 May 2026 — nobody had to do anything for it to happen. What notice you now owe depends on which of three situations your tenancy was in when that happened.
| Your tenancy | What governs your notice |
|---|---|
| Already a rolling periodic tenancy before 1 May 2026 | Unchanged — whatever notice period your tenancy agreement sets continues to apply. |
| A fixed term ending on or after 1 May 2026 | Also unchanged — the agreement's own notice period still governs. |
| A fixed term that ended before 1 May 2026, and the agreement says what happens next (e.g. it becomes rolling) | That clause usually still applies, and its notice period with it. |
| A fixed term that ended before 1 May 2026, with no clause covering what happens next | The old agreement's notice period no longer applies — you're on the assured periodic tenancy rules below instead. |
What holds for most tenants
- A landlord cannot require more than 2 months' notice. If your agreement sets a shorter period, you can give that instead. If it says nothing, give 2 months.
- Notice must end on a day rent is due, or the day before. Pick the wrong day and the notice may not be valid, so count it out against your rent dates.
- Give it in writing — a letter, an email or a text — and keep a copy. There's no prescribed form, but there needs to be a record of when it was sent and what it said.
- Rent is owed until the tenancy actually ends. Giving notice doesn't pause rent while you're still living there or still on the books.
Scotland and Wales are different systems entirely
Scotland's private residential tenancies use their own notice rules, not the ones above — 28 days' written notice (allow 2 extra days if you send it by post or email), which your landlord can agree to shorten but doesn't have to. Ending a tenancy in Scotland covers that side in full, including the landlord's own notice periods. Everything else about a Scottish move — missives, the Home Report, LBTT — is covered on moving house in Scotland.
Wales isn't a variant of England's rules either — it's a wholly separate Act. Since December 2022 there's no such thing as an assured shorthold tenancy in Wales: you have an occupation contract, not a tenancy, and none of the figures above apply to it. Ending a tenancy in Wales covers what actually does.
Once notice is in, the deposit clock starts too
Separately from notice, your landlord or agent must have put your deposit into a government-approved protection scheme within 30 days of receiving it — worth confirming now if you're not sure it happened, rather than at check-out. Schemes work one of two ways: a custodial scheme holds the money itself for the whole tenancy, while an insured scheme leaves the money with your landlord, who pays the scheme to insure it. If there's a dispute, the landlord has to hand the deposit to the scheme, which holds it until the dispute is settled. Either way, a genuine dispute goes through the scheme's own resolution service, decided on evidence from both sides rather than on whoever argues loudest. End of tenancy checklist covers what that evidence should be and how to gather it before you hand back the keys.
MovePlan dates the rest of the move — packing, utilities, the forty-odd organisations to tell — from whichever day you actually leave, once notice has worked out when that is. The dated plan is free; the letters are £14.99 once, for six months.