An assured periodic tenancy is the only private tenancy England has had since 1 May 2026. It has no end date and runs from rent period to rent period; the tenant can leave on two months' notice, the landlord only on a Schedule 2 ground through the court. Existing tenancies converted on that date unless an old notice still ran.
By Stevie Hayes · Updated 17 October 2026 · Figures checked against legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK on 17 October 2026 · How we verify · Report a problem with this page · Statutory penalties are maximums; councils and courts decide the amount.
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| Fact | Position | Since / status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Since | 1 May 2026: every private assured tenancy in England is periodic; fixed terms are of no effect | HA 1988 s.4A; SI 2026/421 | Housing Act 1988 s.4A (assured tenancies to be periodic; rent periods) |
| Rent periods | 28 days or shorter, or monthly; anything longer is treated as monthly | s.4A(3), (5) | Housing Act 1988 s.4A (assured tenancies to be periodic; rent periods) |
| Existing tenancies | Converted automatically on 1 May 2026, nothing to re-sign, unless a pre-May Section 21 or Section 8 notice was still running | RRA 2025 s.146; Sch 6 | Renters' Rights Act 2025 s.146 (existing tenancies continue as section 4A tenancies) |
| Tenant's notice | In writing, at least two months unless the landlord agreed less in writing (with every joint tenant); the landlord cannot require more | PEA 1977 s.5(1), (1ZA), (1ZB) | Protection from Eviction Act 1977 s.5 (tenant's notice: in writing; at least two months unless the landlord agrees less) |
| Landlord's exit | Court order on a Schedule 2 ground, or surrender; no notice to quit, no end date | HA 1988 s.5(1), s.16E(1) | Housing Act 1988 s.5 (landlord can end an assured tenancy only by court order) |
| Purporting to grant a fixed term | Council penalty up to £7,000 | s.16E(1)(a), s.16I | Housing Act 1988 s.16I (financial penalties up to £7,000) |
| Not assured | Rent over £100,000 a year or at or under £1,000 (London) / £250 a year; resident landlords; holiday lets; company tenants | Sch 1; s.1(1)(a) | Housing Act 1988 Schedule 1 (tenancies which cannot be assured: rent limits, resident landlords, holiday lettings, students) |
Two words, two tests. A tenancy is assured under Housing Act 1988 s.1 when a dwelling-house is let as a separate dwelling, "the tenant or, as the case may be, each of the joint tenants is an individual", at least one of them occupies it "as his only or principal home", and none of the exceptions in Schedule 1 applies. It is periodic because, since 1 May 2026, section 4A (inserted by section 1 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025) provides that terms of an assured tenancy "are of no effect so far as they provide (a) for a tenancy to be a fixed term tenancy, or (b) for periods of the tenancy to be different from the periods for which rent is payable". The tenancy then "has effect as a periodic tenancy under which the periods of the tenancy are the same as the rent periods" (s.4A(2)).
The rent periods themselves are controlled: each must be "a period of 28 days or shorter, or a monthly rent period" (s.4A(3)). A term providing for anything longer, such as quarterly rent, is of no effect and the tenancy takes "successive rent periods of one month beginning with the first day of the tenancy", with the rent recalculated by the formula in s.4A(6), which divides the old period's rent by its days and multiplies by 30.42. Section 4A does not stop landlord and tenant varying other terms by agreement (s.4A(7)), though rent is separately controlled by section 13.
The assured shorthold tenancy no longer exists for private lettings. GOV.UK's guide for landlords: "You cannot create an assured shorthold tenancy (AST). All assured shorthold tenancies automatically became assured periodic tenancies on 1 May 2026." This page describes the position in England; it is not advice on your tenancy.
The Schedule 1 exceptions that matter to private landlords:
A letting to a company is not assured at all, not because of Schedule 1 but because s.1(1)(a) requires every tenant to be an individual.
They converted, without anyone signing anything. Section 146(1) of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 says the commencement of Chapter 1 "has the effect that, on the commencement date, an existing tenancy becomes a section 4A assured tenancy" and does not affect its continuation. The commencement date for private assured tenancies was 1 May 2026 (SI 2026/421, regulation 2(a)). GOV.UK's guide for landlords puts it in one line: "If the tenancy had an end date, it will no longer apply. You did not need to do anything for this change to take effect."
One group was deferred. Where a valid Section 21 notice had been given before 1 May 2026, Schedule 6 paragraphs 3 and 4 provide that "the tenancy remains an assured shorthold tenancy until" the notice ceases to be valid or the proceedings conclude, and paragraphs 16 and 17 do the same for certain Section 8 notices; each such tenancy has its own, later, commencement date, and its Information Sheet falls due within one month beginning with that date (paragraph 7(2)). The Section 21 guide sets out those transitional dates.
For everyone else, three things followed from the conversion:
The tenant ends it by notice to quit. Under Protection from Eviction Act 1977 s.5 the notice must be "in writing" (s.5(1)(a)) and, for an assured tenancy, given "not less than two months before the date on which the notice is to take effect", or not less than any shorter period, "not exceeding two months, that the landlord has agreed to in writing" (s.5(1ZA)); so two months is the default and the most a landlord can require, and on a joint tenancy a shorter agreed period "is not valid unless it is made between the landlord and all of the tenants" (s.5(1ZB)). GOV.UK's section on a tenant who wants to leave adds that the notice must be timed "so the tenancy ends on a day when the rent is due or the day before", that rent is payable through the notice period, and that a tenant who changes their mind "can only stay if you agree in writing".
The landlord's route is the court. Housing Act 1988 s.5(1): an assured tenancy "cannot be brought to an end by the landlord except by" obtaining and executing a court order for possession, apart from a narrow Immigration Act 2014 notice route; the tenancy also ends if the tenant agrees to surrender it. A relevant person "must not … purport to let a dwelling-house on the tenancy for a fixed term", "purport to bring the tenancy to an end by service of a notice to quit", end it orally, or "serve on the tenant a purported notice of possession" (s.16E(1)), each carrying a council penalty of up to £7,000 under s.16I. The court order needs a ground in Schedule 2 and, normally, a Section 8 notice giving the period the s.8(4AA) table sets for that ground. For a sale (Ground 1A) or a move-in (Ground 1), the current tenancy must be one that "began at least 1 year before the relevant date", the date in the notice, and the notice period is four months. Our guides to the Section 8 notice, every ground and the abolition of Section 21 cover the procedure.
Students have the one scheduled ground. Ground 4A applies where the dwelling is in an HMO, every tenant "meets the student test when the tenancy is entered into", the landlord gave "before the tenancy is entered into, a written statement of the landlord's wish to be able to recover possession" on this basis, no more than six months passed between signing and the tenant's entitlement to possession, the landlord intends to re-let to students, and "the relevant date falls within the period beginning with 1 June and ending with 30 September in any year". The relevant date is the date specified in the Section 8 notice (Schedule 2 paragraph 12), which must give at least four months; as GOV.UK puts it, "the notice period must end between 1 June and 30 September". The tenancy itself is still periodic with no end date.
Government changes that bear on this duty. Where the status says in force the rule already applies; everything else is not yet law for private landlords. Dates are quoted as the government has published them, checked on 15 October 2026.
| Change | Status today | Published timing | Sensible preparation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mandatory membership of a Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman scheme | announced, dates to be confirmed | Government roadmap: landlords required to join "in 2028", after the Database launches; scheme conditions set during Phase 2 from 2026 | Keep a written complaints process and records of how tenant complaints were handled; the scheme will expect both. Source |
A tenancy of someone's home, from a landlord who does not live there, with no end date, rolling from one rent period to the next. Since 1 May 2026 every private assured tenancy in England is one (Housing Act 1988 s.4A). The tenant can leave on two months' written notice; the landlord can end it only on a Schedule 2 ground through the court.
No. A term providing for a fixed term is of no effect (s.4A(1)(a)), and purporting to let on a fixed term is a contravention under s.16E(1)(a) carrying a council penalty of up to £7,000. The tenancy is periodic from day one whatever the agreement says.
No. Section 146 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 converted every existing assured tenancy on that date, except one with a valid pre-May Section 21 or Section 8 notice still running, which converts when that notice is spent (Schedule 6 paragraphs 3, 4, 16 and 17). What you had to give was the Information Sheet by 31 May 2026, or the written statement of terms if the tenancy was wholly oral.
At least two months, in writing, timed to end on a rent day or the day before, unless the landlord has agreed a shorter period in writing; on a joint tenancy that agreement must be with all the tenants (Protection from Eviction Act 1977 s.5(1), (1ZA), (1ZB)). A landlord cannot require more than two months. For tenancies that began before 1 May 2026, GOV.UK says a notice period written into the old agreement can still apply.
Rent periods must be 28 days or shorter, or monthly (s.4A(3)). A quarterly term is of no effect and the tenancy runs on monthly periods instead, with the rent recalculated on a 30.42-day month: from the first day of a new tenancy (s.4A(5), (6)), or, for a tenancy that already existed, from 1 May 2026 or the end of the rent period running on that date (Renters' Rights Act 2025 Schedule 6 paragraph 2).
Usually not. A landlord who lives in the same building, or in a purpose-built block the same flat, and lets part of it is a resident landlord under Schedule 1 paragraph 10, so the letting is not assured and a lodger normally has a licence or an excluded tenancy. A holiday letting is excluded by paragraph 9. A letting at more than £100,000 a year, or to a company, is not assured either.
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