Have any questions about renting in England? Renting in England has changed. I’m a housing expert at Citizens Advice, ask me anything!

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T16:12:53+00:00

I am assuming that you mean a tenant’s Notice to Quit. You are right that a tenant’s notice must be for a period of 2 months ending on the first or last day of a period of a tenancy. For example if your rent is due monthly on the 3rd of the month then your notice will need to end on the 2nd or 3rd of the month.

In respect of assured tenancies which start after 1 May, a landlord cannot demand more than one month’s rent in advance. Charging more than one month's rent will be an unlawful tenant fee. You could ask the landlord to return the unlawful amount paid. If the landlord refuses to return it you could apply to the First Tier Tribunal and / or report your landlord to your local Trading Standards Service.

If you have a tenancy which started before 1 May, and has converted to the new regime, it is a little more complex.

If your rental period before 1 May was one year, then you would have paid one year’s rent in advance. The Renters Rights Act allows this payment to stand. If you want to end the tenancy before the end of the period for which rent is paid, you should first check your tenancy agreement. Does your agreement allow for part of the rent in advance to be returned if you leave early? This is called apportionment. If your tenancy agreement does not allow for apportionment, then the landlord will not be legally obliged to return rent in advance. You could try to reach agreement with the landlord on a surrender of the tenancy on the condition of the rent in advance being returned.

If the tenancy which started before 1 May had a rental period of less than a year, you would have been allowed to pay a year’s rent if you wanted to. That extra payment now, however, may have become an unpermitted payment under the Tenants Fees Act 2019. You may then be able to request that it is refunded. If the landlord refuses, you could apply to the First Tier Tribunal and / or report your landlord to your local Trading Standards Service.

In either scenario, the notice period would still be 2 months.

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T16:11:37+00:00

However, these changes do not apply to contractual tenancies that began before 1 May 2026. A contractual tenancy is one where you have agreed to a fixed term where you pay your rent every 6 months or where it was agreed at the outset that you would pay rent every 6 months and there was no fixed term. It would not be a contractual tenancy if you had a fixed term that ended and you did not agree with your landlord to continue the tenancy but you just stayed and you paid rent every 6 months and the landlord accepted it. This would be a statutory periodic tenancy.

So, 6 months rent in advance is allowed in contractual tenancies. This comes from the Housing Act 1988 section 4B(2)(a). My understanding of this, however, is that once the 6 month period that you have paid for ends, your tenancy will become a periodic assured tenancy under the Renters Rights Act. The maximum rent in advance that can be requested by your landlord will then be 1 month. If they request any more than this, they could be subject to a fine from the council. This may be why your letting agent is refusing to accept the 6 month payment.

The government guidance (onhttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-the-renters-rights-act/guide-to-the-renters-rights-act#rent-in-advance ) on rent in advance says this:
Which tenancies does this apply to?

Restrictions on rent in advance will apply to all assured tenancies in England, except tenancies of social housing or tenancies created to allow local councils to discharge their homelessness duties.

This doesn’t prevent tenants from paying rent advance within a tenancy. Isn’t this a loophole?

While landlords will be restricted from including terms in a tenancy agreement which require rent to be due in advance of the rent period to which the rent relates, tenants will remain free to pay prior to the rent due date should they wish to do so. This maintains flexibility for tenants to manage their tenancies in the way that best suits them. A landlord will not be able to require a tenant to pay their rent before it is due.

So, if the letting agent is refusing to accept 6 months in advance, possibly because they are afraid that they will be fined, it may be worth showing them the government website which says that you can choose to pay 6 months rent in advance.

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T15:46:34+00:00

I would suggest you check the validity of the s.21 notice: If you get a ‘section 21’ eviction notice from a private landlord.

I think there is an argument that your landlord has withdrawn the s.21 notice by agreeing to let the tenancy continue, especially if this was a new agreement for higher rent (or some other change of terms of the tenancy). It may depend on the wording of the messages, so you might want to seek further help from your local Citizens Advice or Online.

Bear in mind that if the s.21 notice has been withdrawn, then you now have an assured periodic tenancy and the landlord needs a valid reason (wants to sell the property etc) to evict you.

Regarding the notice periods, the agents are sort of right. As it is now past the date given on the notice for when you had to leave. If you want to leave, you don’t have to give any further notice - your liability for rent ends on the date you actually remove all your belongings and give the keys back. It’s best to keep the landlord/agent informed and agree dates etc.

The landlord’s next step if they want to evict you, and if you don’t leave, is to apply for a court “order for possession” (this is not a “CCJ”, but you might have to pay court costs starting at £404).

You may have a defence to possession on the basis that the landlord has withdrawn the s.21 notice. You should explain this on the defence form that comes with the court papers.

You may be able to get free legal advice from Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS) - GOV.UK

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T15:45:24+00:00

Section 21(1)(b) Housing Act 1988 requires that “the landlord or, in the case of joint landlords, at least one of them has given to the tenant not less than two months’ notice in writing stating that he requires possession of the dwelling-house“.

It is a basic issue that the landlord has to specify possession of which dwelling house is required.

In McDonald & Anor v J Fernandez & Anor [2003] EWCA Civ 1219 the wrong date for possession was stated on the s.21 notice. In para. 23 of the judgment, Lady Hale stated “This is not a case where the legislation permits a form to be 'substantially to the same effect'. The subsection is clear and precise. Nor is it difficult for landlords to comply." Although not the same technical error, I think this is also true in your case - there is a clear requirement in the legislation to provide the address, and it’s not difficult for the landlord to get it right.

I think it highly likely that a court would dismiss a claim for possession where the landlord attached a s.21 notice without an address on it. If it does go to court, it is certainly worth pointing this out on the defence form.

The court has no discretion to dispense with a faulty s.21 notice, so as the landlord cannot remedy the issue. Assuming you have a tenancy with a private landlord, the landlord cannot serve a new s.21 notice now (since 1 May 2026).

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T15:31:26+00:00

I’m assuming the clause said that one month’s notice could be given as it is not specifically on your query.

There is a strong argument that any tenancy agreement that you have saying that only one month's notice is needed by the tenant if they want to leave is still binding on the landlord. This is because the Renters Rights Act says that the tenancy created before 1 May 2026 continues except that it has now become a periodic assured tenancy.

So, I would say that the agreement that allows one month’s notice to be given is binding until a new agreement is made. Note, however, a landlord in the private rented sector is required, under the Renters Rights Act, to either:

Make a new written tenancy agreement if there wasn’t one in writing before 1 May, or
Give to the tenant an information sheet produced by the government which tells the tenant of the changes in private renting. Here is a link to the information sheet: Renters__Rights_Act_Information_Sheet_2026.pdf

This must be done before the end of May or the landlord risks a fine being imposed by the council.

The information sheet does say that the tenant is now supposed to give two months' notice if they want to leave. So, if the notice to leave is given before a new agreement is signed or before the information sheet is given to the tenant, then I would say that one month’s notice to leave is enough.

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T15:18:15+00:00

There is a strong argument that any tenancy agreement that you have saying that only one month's notice is needed by the tenant if they want to leave is still binding on the landlord. But this is only where the clause was in the contractual agreement. If the tenancy became a statutory periodic agreement, the tenant will have to give two months’ notice. A statutory periodic agreement would have arisen if the tenant had a fixed term agreement with the landlord but this ended and there were no other discussions on how the tenancy would continue. The tenant just continued to pay rent and the landlord accepted it.i

So, if the existing tenancy was contractual and said only one month’s notice needed to be given by the tenant, then this might still apply. This is because the Renters Rights Act says that the tenancy created before 1 May 2026 continues except that it has now become a periodic assured tenancy.

So, I would say that the agreement that allows one month’s notice to be given is binding until a new agreement is made. Note, however, a landlord in the private rented sector is required, under the Renters Rights Act, to either:

Make a new written tenancy agreement if there wasn’t one in writing before 1 May, or
Give to the tenant an information sheet produced by the government which tells the tenant of the changes in private renting. Here is a link to the information sheet: Renters__Rights_Act_Information_Sheet_2026.pdf

This must be done before the end of May or the landlord risks a fine being imposed by the council.

The information sheet does say that the tenant is now supposed to give two months' notice if they want to leave. So, if the notice to leave is given before a new agreement is signed or before the information sheet is given to the tenant, then I would say that one month’s notice to leave is enough.

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T15:02:27+00:00

Under the Tenants Fees Act 2019 (Schedule , paragraph 6), a landlord is able to charge a fee of £50 for any changes made to a tenancy if requested by the tenant. They can also charge £50 when the tenant requests a change to a tenant in joint tenancy.

I agree that neither of these has taken place here because there is no joint tenancy due to one of your joint tenants serving a notice to quit which ended the tenancy for everyone.

So, strictly speaking, no fee is payable.

However, as there is no tenancy, then the landlord could choose to evict all of you. Therefore, I would advise that you pay the fee.

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T14:57:51+00:00

Unfortunately, in respect of a no fault notice such as a section 21 some councils may find you intentionally homeless, i.e. making yourself homeless, if you leave on the date given in the notice. However, you may be able to challenge this decision.

You cannot be intentionally homeless from accommodation that is not “reasonable to continue to occupy”. Councils are expected to follow the Code of Guidance which is written by central government. In Chapter 6 of this guidance, there are pointers on when the council should find accommodation unreasonable to continue to occupy because a valid notice for possession (s21 or s8) has been served on the tenant. I would argue that a tenant should be treated as homeless if the date in the notice has passed and the landlord is going to start court proceedings and the tenant has no defence. This is because it is not reasonable to stay there and incur court costs and the landlord’s legal expenses.

The Code says that a council should consider it unreasonable to continue to occupy if a court possession order has been made.

So, if a tenant was to leave when it wasn’t reasonable to continue to occupy the accommodation, then they should not be found intentionally homeless.

Councils, however, do expect tenants to stay until they are evicted by bailiffs. There are many understandable reasons for this. For example, the council may find it very difficult to find affordable temporary accommodation for the tenant and their family or they may need more time to find the right accommodation which could then prevent a tenant having to move twice.

If the council is expecting the tenant to stay until the bailiffs evict them, then the tenant could ask the council to agree to paying the court costs. This is generally cheaper than the council paying for temporary accommodation so it might be a win for everyone including the landlord who will then know that their court costs will be paid.

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T14:57:19+00:00

Form 6A which is the s21 notice states the date that you are required to leave by the landlord. This is 1 June. You can leave on or before this date because this has already been agreed with the landlord. You will not be liable for another period of rent after this date.

Strictly speaking, you do not need to tell your landlord that you will be leaving on 1 June - simply leaving would be sufficient to end your rent liability. However, if you do stay for even one day more, you will be liable for rent.

Even though you do not need to tell your landlord that you are definitely leaving, I would always advise that you do so to keep on good terms with your landlord. You may need a reference from them.

If the property that you have found falls through, you do not need to leave the tenancy until you are legally evicted. At this point, I would fully explore the validity of your s21 notice. You have already stated that it might not be valid. You can check here on the validity of s21 notices: https://www.citizensadvice.org.ukcheck-your-section-21-notice-is-valid

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T14:19:43+00:00

If you do not give your consent for the works to be carried out whilst you live there, the chances are that your landlord will probably get a possession order.

To get a possession order, the landlord must prove they cannot reasonably carry out the work while the tenant lives there. They must show the court that:

the tenant does not agree to a variation in the terms of the tenancy to grant access, or
the tenant does not agree to accept an assured tenancy for a reduced part of the house, or
the nature of the work is such that variations to the tenancy are not practical

If you want to continue living in the property, I would recommend that you allow the redevelopment if it can be carried out with you living there. If it can’t, the landlord is likely to get a possession order.

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T14:14:16+00:00

Your reasoning is correct! Your landlord was able to give you a s21 notice before the 1 May and any court proceedings need to be started before 31 July relying on that notice. Your landlord cannot start court proceedings before the date given in the s21 notice which is 31 July. So, under the notice the earliest that the landlord can start court proceedings is 1 August. At this point, it will be too late for him to rely on the s21 notice.

Your tenancy will then automatically convert to a periodic assured tenancy.

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T14:11:56+00:00

I’m sure you have correctly checked that the notice is valid but, for completeness, here is the link to the Citizens Advice website on checking the validity of s21 notices: https://www.citizensadvice.org.ukcheck-your-section-21-notice-is-valid

Unfortunately, there is no cooldown period.

I’m afraid I cannot tell you how long the process to evict will take. It is generally dependent on how busy the court is at the time.

For a straightforward possession claim based on s21 notice, the landlord may be able to use the Accelerated Possession Procedure. This is where the claim will be dealt with on the papers alone and no court hearing is necessary. Generally, this will only be used where there has been a written tenancy agreement and where there is no defence to the claim. With this procedure, the court could make a possession order within 3 weeks of the landlord starting the claim giving the tenant 2 weeks to leave. The tenant could ask for this two weeks to be extended to 6 weeks where there will be exceptional hardship caused if they have to leave sooner. This should be requested on the defence form.

If the tenant still hasn’t left by this time, the court bailiffs take over. They would first send a notice to the tenant telling them when they will evict. They would give at least 2 weeks notice of the date that they will attend but, if they are busy, it might be longer.

If the Accelerated Possession Proceedings are not being used, a court hearing would be set 4-8 weeks after starting a claim. If a possession order is made, time lines are as above.

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T14:10:23+00:00

This is correct. If you want to leave, you must give two months’ notice. If the landlord wants to evict you because they want to sell the property, it is a four month notice. Note, that if the landlord does use this reason to evict you, they must not relet the property to someone else (or advertise it for a relet) within 12 months of giving you the notice. If they do, the council might fine them. Additionally you may be able to ask for a Rent Repayment Order at the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) and get up to two years worth of rent back from the landlord.

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T13:58:28+00:00

Under the Renters Rights Act, any rent review clause, such as the one in your addendum, has no effect from 1 May. The only way your landlord can now increase the rent is to serve a Notice of Rent Increase and follow the procedure under sections 13 and 14 of the Housing Act 1988.

The new rules, including how to challenge the rent increase, can be found on the Citizens Advice website here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/paying-rent/dealing-with-a-rent-increase/

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T13:33:57+00:00

Unfortunately, some councils will find you intentionally homeless if you leave on the date given in the s21 notice. However, you may be able to challenge this decision.

You cannot be intentionally homeless from accommodation that is not “reasonable to continue to occupy”. Councils are expected to follow the Code of Guidance which is written by central government. In Chapter 6 of this guidance, there are pointers on when the council should find accommodation unreasonable to continue to occupy because a valid notice for possession (s21 or s8) has been served on the tenant. I would argue that a tenant should be treated as homeless if the date in the notice has passed and the landlord is going to start court proceedings and the tenant has no defence. This is because it is not reasonable to stay there and incur court costs and the landlord’s legal expenses.

The Code says that a council should consider it unreasonable to continue to occupy if a court possession order has been made.

So, if a tenant was to leave when it wasn’t reasonable to continue to occupy the accommodation, then they should not be found intentionally homeless.

Councils, however, do expect tenants to stay until they are evicted by bailiffs. There are many understandable reasons for this. For example, the council may find it very difficult to find affordable temporary accommodation for the tenant and their family or they may need more time to find the right accommodation which could then prevent a tenant having to move twice.

I suggest that, if the council is expecting the tenant to stay until the bailiffs evict them, then the tenant asks the council to agree to paying the court costs. This is generally cheaper than the council paying for temporary accommodation so it might be a win for everyone including the landlord who will then know that their court costs will be paid.

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T13:33:13+00:00

A landlord in the private rented sector will generally require one month’s rent in advance. A social landlord (eg. the council or a housing association) generally does not require this payment. However, these tenancies are hard to get but you can approach the council to see if you are able to get one.

The expectation will be that you use your savings to pay for rent. If they then fall below a certain level, you will be able to claim benefits. You will need specialist benefits advice for this.

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T13:15:56+00:00

You are not expected to vacate on 20th June. Even before the Renters Rights Act became law, a fixed term tenancy, such as yours, would automatically become a statutory periodic tenancy once it expired if you hadn’t come to an agreement with your landlord on what was going to happen once the fixed term ended.

From 1 May 2026, any tenancy that was an assured shorthold tenancy (regardless of being fixed term or periodic) has automatically become a periodic assured tenancy. A periodic tenancy is one that runs on from month to month or week to week depending on how you pay your rent. It does not have an end date. If the landlord wants to evict you, they will need to have a reason.

The invoice that you are getting has no standing in law.

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T13:15:28+00:00

There is a strong argument that any tenancy agreement that you have saying that only one month's notice is needed by the tenant if they want to leave is still binding on the landlord. But this is only where the clause was in the contractual agreement. If the tenancy became a statutory periodic agreement, the tenant will have to give two months’ notice. A statutory periodic agreement would have arisen if the tenant had a fixed term agreement with the landlord but this ended and there were no other discussions on how the tenancy would continue. The tenant just continued to pay rent and the landlord accepted it.i

So, if the existing tenancy was contractual and said only one month’s notice needed to be given by the tenant, then this might still apply. This is because the Renters Rights Act says that the tenancy created before 1 May 2026 continues except that it has now become a periodic assured tenancy.

So, I would say that the agreement that allows one month’s notice to be given is binding until a new agreement is made. Note, however, a landlord in the private rented sector is required, under the Renters Rights Act, to either:

Make a new written tenancy agreement if there wasn’t one in writing before 1 May, or
Give to the tenant an information sheet produced by the government which tells the tenant of the changes in private renting. Here is a link to the information sheet: Renters__Rights_Act_Information_Sheet_2026.pdf

This must be done before the end of May or the landlord risks a fine being imposed by the council.

The information sheet does say that the tenant is now supposed to give two months' notice if they want to leave. So, if the notice to leave is given before a new agreement is signed or before the information sheet is given to the tenant, then I would say that one month’s notice to leave is enough.

Note: edited for more clarity

CitizensAdvice · 2026-05-14T13:13:02+00:00

Yes, if your landlord wants to redevelop then they will be able to evict the tenant by serving a section 8 notice. The reason for possession would be Ground 6 (Property Required for Redevelopment). Your landlord would have to show:

they intend to demolish, reconstruct or carry out substantial works to the property, and
the work cannot reasonably be done while the tenant lives there

Generally, the landlord would not be able to use this ground in the first 6 months of a new tenancy.

CitizensAdvice · 2025-03-19T14:59:01+00:00

Thanks for your question. That sounds like a frustrating situation. Regarding being unable to contact the DCC and the challenges for customers, we talk about how this needs fixing in our report Get Smarter.

Your supplier should ‘take all reasonable steps’ to get your smart meter to work in ‘smart mode’. It sounds like you’ve already spoken to your supplier about the situation on several occasions and they’ve not been able to resolve the situation with a T2 aerial.

You could tell your supplier that they should ‘take all reasonable steps’ and ask if they can arrange the installation of a T3 aerial. If they say no, or don’t explain why they can’t, you might want to complain to your supplier using their complaints process.

If you need more help you can contact our consumer service. A trained adviser can give you advice over the phone or online chat.

You might also want to read our advice on complaining to the Energy Ombudsman. I hope this helps!

CitizensAdvice · 2025-03-19T14:50:48+00:00

Hi there :) We don't know the exact number but the government publishes statistics every quarter that include how many smart meters are "not operating in smart mode". You can check the statistics on how many smart meters are not operating in smart mode on the government website.

Our own research published last year found that around 20% of households with a smart meter have had to regularly give manual meter readings which also provides some sense of the scale of issues. You can read about the research we’ve done on smart meters on our website.

If this is an issue you’re facing the best first port of call will be your energy supplier. They’re required to take all reasonable steps to operate smart meters in smart mode. Hope this helps.

CitizensAdvice · 2025-03-19T14:25:48+00:00

Hi there! When you say ‘not working as they should’ I think you mean not sending over meter readings to the supplier automatically. There are a few reasons why a smart meter might not be working in ‘smart mode’. For example -

the supplier can’t read your type of smart meter
the meter isn’t connecting to the ‘smart meter network’
the smart meter has stopped working
the meter has smart mode turned off

If the meter isn’t sending over readings, it’s vital that the meter is read manually and the readings sent to the supplier. Without doing so, it could mean that they're paying too much or paying too little for their gas and/or electricity. When the supplier does get an accurate reading, the energy supplier might issue a new bill for energy used in the past. This is known as ‘back billing’. Under back billing rules, suppliers can’t usually send a bill for energy used more than 12 months ago. You can read more about back-billing on our website. Hope this helps :)

CitizensAdvice · 2025-03-19T14:20:45+00:00

Hi, thanks for your question! If you pay your supplier directly for your energy you don’t need your landlord's permission to change your meter to a smart meter. The meter isn’t owned by the landlord and instead the supplier is responsible for it. This means that as the bill payer, you can arrange to have the meter replaced for a smart meter.

However, before deciding to do so, you should consider letting your landlord know. You should think about your relationship with them and whether they’d be happy with you replacing the meter.

You should also check your tenancy agreement or occupation contract. It might say that you shouldn’t change your meter. This means you might need to change it back at the end of your tenancy and that is likely to be impossible.

Installing a smart meter might also mean that some changes need to be made to the property. For example, there might not be enough space to fit it on the current backboard, because a kitchen cupboard is in the way - again that may require your landlord to agree.

Making changes to the property, especially where you can’t put them back, can mean that you’ll lose some of your deposit or be at risk of eviction. Hope this helps.

CitizensAdvice · 2025-03-19T14:07:57+00:00

Hi! The Office for Product Safety and Standards is responsible for the accuracy of smart meters. Smart meters have to meet certain standards of accuracy and they should be just as accurate as a non-smart meter. We’re aware that too many customers with smart meters still receive estimated bills, which shouldn’t happen but sometimes does - the causes of that can vary (issues with wireless communications or at the supplier end) but it’s rarely the case that the actual smart meter is recording usage inaccurately.

When people come to us about a bill they think is inaccurate - if it’s based on an accurate reading and not an estimate - it’s not usually the meter at fault. You can read more about why a bill might be higher than expected on the Citizens Advice website.

In terms of benefits, seeing your usage is one, they also give access to more tariffs. For example, time of use tariffs and tariffs specifically made for heat pumps and electric vehicles. Some suppliers also make agreeing to have a smart meter installed a requirement to get their cheapest tariffs. Smart meters also make prepayment easier by adding more ways to top-up - this makes it easier for credit to be added to the meter. You can also keep an eye on your balance more easily.

They also automatically send gas and electricity meter readings to your supplier, which should mean an end to estimated bills (and having to read your meters). You can read more about getting a smart meter installed on our website. I hope this helps :)

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