For renters

Can a landlord still give me a 12 month fixed term tenancy?

Guide · about 19 min read · Covers the law in England as at November 2026 · Reviewed on 1 November 2026

No, where section 4A of the Housing Act 1988 applies to the tenancy. Terms of an assured tenancy are of no effect so far as they provide for a tenancy to be a fixed term tenancy, and the tenancy instead has effect as a periodic tenancy under which the periods of the tenancy are the same as the rent periods. That is section 4A of the Housing Act 1988, inserted by section 1 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025, and it has been the position in England since 1 May 2026 for assured tenancies that are not social housing assured tenancies. Where that section applies, being handed an agreement with a 12 month fixed term written into it does not make the fixed term work. Separately, section 16E(1)(a) of the same Act provides that a relevant person must not purport to let a dwelling-house on an assured tenancy for a fixed term.

All of that is about assured tenancies. Whether your own letting is one is a separate question, decided by section 1 of, and Part I of Schedule 1 to, the Housing Act 1988, and an adviser can answer it from the agreement together with the circumstances of the letting, which include whether the tenant occupies the home as their only or principal home. This guide covers England only. It is general information and not legal advice. There is more on how VEYLO X works for renters.

What does the law say about a fixed term now?

Section 4A(1) of the Housing Act 1988 provides that terms of an assured tenancy are of no effect so far as they provide for a tenancy to be a fixed term tenancy, or for periods of the tenancy to be different from the periods for which rent is payable, which the section calls rent periods. Section 4A(2) provides that where terms are of no effect by virtue of subsection (1)(a) or (b), the tenancy has effect as a periodic tenancy under which the periods of the tenancy are the same as the rent periods.

Section 4A was inserted into the Housing Act 1988 by section 1 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025, and came into force on 1 May 2026 for specified purposes by regulation 2(a) of S.I. 2026/421. Section 2 of the same Act is headed Abolition of assured shorthold tenancies, and came into force on the same date and for the same purposes. Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Schedule 6 to that Act provide that certain tenancies remain assured shorthold tenancies after that date, and they are covered further below. What the Act changed more widely is covered in our plain-English guide to the Renters' Rights Act 2025.

Subsection (1)(a) reaches only the term that provides for a fixed term. Section 4A does reach other terms elsewhere: subsection (1)(b) covers terms providing for periods of the tenancy different from the rent periods, and subsection (3) covers terms providing for the rent periods, both of which are set out further below. What subsection (1)(a) does not touch is the rest of the document, and what happens to any other term in it is for an adviser.

I have already signed a 12 month agreement. Am I tied in for a year?

Where section 4A applies to the tenancy, signing does not give the fixed term effect. Section 4A(1)(a) makes the term of no effect, and section 4A(2) gives the tenancy effect as a periodic tenancy with periods equal to the rent periods. Nothing in either subsection turns on whether the tenant signed. Which tenancies section 4A has reached is covered further below.

A notice to quit given by a tenant in relation to premises let under an assured tenancy is dealt with by section 5 of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. Section 5(1)(a) provides that no such notice is valid unless it is in writing and contains such information as may be prescribed, so the notice itself has to be written, separately from anything the landlord agrees to in writing about its length. Section 5(1ZA)(a) of that Act, inserted by section 20 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025, provides that such a notice satisfies that subsection if it is given not less than any length of time before the date on which it is to take effect, not exceeding two months, that the landlord has agreed to in writing, or, in the absence of such agreement, not less than two months before that date.

Section 5(1ZB) provides that in the case of a joint assured tenancy an agreement for a shorter period under subsection (1ZA)(a)(i) is not valid unless it is made between the landlord and all of the tenants, and section 5(1ZD) defines a joint assured tenancy as one where two or more persons are tenants. Section 5(1ZC) provides that subsection (1ZB) does not affect the validity of a notice to quit premises let under a joint assured tenancy that is given by only one or some of the tenants, so the all-tenants requirement is about the agreement for a shorter period and not about who may give the notice.

Withdrawal is dealt with separately. Section 5A(3) allows a notice to be withdrawn before the date on which it takes effect if the tenant and the landlord agree in writing to the withdrawal, section 5A(4) provides that on a joint assured tenancy such an agreement is not valid unless it is made between the landlord and all of the tenants, and section 5A(5) provides that this does not affect the validity of a notice given by only one or some of the tenants. What a notice given by one of several joint tenants does to the others is a question this guide does not answer, and how a joint tenancy works in England covers the wider position.

Section 5A, inserted by section 21, deals with terms about the means of giving the notice. Two months is a minimum interval and not a complete answer. The date such a notice can take effect on, and the fact that rent runs to that date rather than to the day the keys go back, are dealt with in the same guide, and nobody should arrange a move on the strength of the two month figure alone. Those are the words of the provisions, and this guide does not apply them to any particular tenancy. They are covered in how much notice a tenant gives to end a tenancy in England.

Whether a particular agreement created an assured tenancy, and so whether section 4A applies to it at all, is not something this guide answers. Citizens Advice and Shelter give free housing advice in England, and that is the question to put to them.

What is worth doing either way is keeping the document. The agreement exactly as it was sent, with its date, and the message it arrived in, are the things an adviser or a council can work from later.

What does the Act say about letting on a fixed term?

It prohibits it in its own words. Section 16E(1)(a) of the Housing Act 1988 provides that a relevant person must not, in relation to an assured tenancy, purport to let a dwelling-house on the tenancy for a fixed term. Those are the words of the provision. Whether what happened in a particular case amounts to purporting to let on a fixed term, rather than to something short of that, is not something this guide answers.

Section 16M(1) of that Act defines a relevant person, in relation to a tenancy, as the landlord, a person acting on behalf of the landlord otherwise than as a legal representative, or a person purporting to act on behalf of the landlord. The definition therefore reaches beyond the landlord. The limb covering a person acting on the landlord's behalf excludes someone acting as a legal representative, which section 16M(1) defines by reference to the Legal Services Act 2007, and that qualification sits in that limb rather than across all three. This guide does not say which side of that definition any particular agent falls on.

Section 16I(1)(a) allows a local housing authority to impose a financial penalty on a person if it is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the person contravened section 16D, or any paragraph of section 16E(1) other than paragraph (e). Section 16I(6) provides that the amount is determined by the authority imposing it, but must not be more than £7,000. A second power sits beside it. Section 16K(1) allows a local housing authority instead to impose a financial penalty on a person if satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the person is guilty of an offence under section 16J, and section 16K(3) provides that the amount must not be more than £40,000. Each power has its own guidance provisions. Sections 16I(9) and (10), and sections 16K(5) and (6), provide that the Secretary of State may give guidance to local housing authorities about their functions under the section in question, and that authorities must have regard to it.

There is a further step for a repeat. Section 16J(4) makes it an offence where a person conducts themselves in a manner giving rise to liability to a financial penalty under section 16I and, within the period of five years ending with the day on which the conduct occurs, a relevant penalty has been imposed on that person for different conduct and the final notice imposing it has not been withdrawn, or that person has been convicted of an offence under section 16J for different conduct.

Section 16J(5) defines a relevant penalty, for that purpose, as a financial penalty imposed under section 16I or 16K where the period for bringing an appeal under paragraph 10(2) of Schedule 2ZA has expired without an appeal being brought, where an appeal under that paragraph has been withdrawn or abandoned, or where the final notice imposing the penalty has been confirmed or varied on appeal.

Sections 16D to 16M were inserted into the Housing Act 1988 by sections 12 to 17 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025: section 16D by section 12, sections 16E to 16G by section 13, section 16H by section 14, sections 16I to 16L by section 15, and section 16M by section 17.

Three limits are worth saying plainly. A financial penalty is paid to the authority, so it is not compensation paid to the tenant, and the two things are separate. Whether a penalty is imposed at all is the authority's decision, and this guide does not say what any council will do about any particular agreement.

The third limit is about timing, and it matters most to anyone whose tenancy began before 1 May 2026. Paragraph 8 of Schedule 6 to the Renters' Rights Act 2025 provides that conduct engaged in, in relation to an existing tenancy, before the commencement date does not give rise to liability to a financial penalty under section 16I or 16K of the Housing Act 1988, and does not constitute an offence under section 16J. Section 146(3) of that Act defines an existing tenancy as an assured tenancy entered into before the commencement date.

The distinction that matters is when the conduct occurred, not simply when the tenancy began: paragraph 8 takes out conduct before the commencement date, and it does not take out later conduct merely because the tenancy started earlier. Whether a particular tenancy is an existing tenancy, and when the commencement date was for it, are questions this guide does not answer.

Can my agreement make my rent payable every three months?

Two things are easy to run together here, and the difference can cost money. Section 4A regulates the periods for which rent is payable. When a payment falls due is dealt with separately by section 4B of the Housing Act 1988, which carries its own exceptions, including in section 4B(2)(a) for a tenancy entered into before the commencement date. So section 4A does not by itself answer whether a requirement to pay for several months together is of no effect, and nobody should change what they pay on the strength of this guide. Rent in advance has a guide of its own: is it safe to pay rent in advance before I move in.

What the agreement provides for	What section 4A does with it
A fixed term of any length	The term is of no effect under subsection (1)(a), and the tenancy has effect as a periodic tenancy under subsection (2)
A rent period that is neither 28 days or shorter nor a monthly rent period, a quarter for example	The term is of no effect under subsection (3), and subsection (5) gives the tenancy effect as if it provided for successive monthly rent periods
A rent period of 28 days or shorter, or a monthly rent period	Permitted by subsection (3)

Section 4A(1)(b) makes terms of no effect so far as they provide for periods of the tenancy to be different from the periods for which rent is payable. Section 4A(3) goes further and makes terms which provide for the rent periods of no effect unless each rent period is a period of 28 days or shorter, or a monthly rent period. Section 4A(4) allows different rent periods at different times during the tenancy, provided each one is permitted by subsection (3).

Where terms are of no effect by virtue of subsection (3), section 4A(5) gives the tenancy effect as if it provided for successive rent periods of one month beginning with the first day of the tenancy, and for the rent for each such period to be the amount calculated in accordance with the formula in subsection (6) and to be due on the first day of the period. In that formula, R is the rent that would have been due for the first rent period under the terms that are of no effect, and D is the number of whole days in that period. The calculation is set out in subsection (6), and this guide does not work it out for any particular rent.

Section 4A(8) provides that terms provide for monthly rent periods if they provide for rent to be payable for successive periods of one month, disregarding any provision for the first period to be a different period not exceeding 30 days.

For a tenancy that already existed before 1 May 2026, paragraph 2 of Schedule 6 to the Renters' Rights Act 2025 changes how subsections (3), (5) and (6) are read, and the changes have substance. Terms providing for the rent periods are of no effect so far as they relate to rent periods beginning on or after the commencement date. The substituted monthly periods begin with the commencement date where a rent period would have begun then, and otherwise with the day after the last day of the rent period that the commencement date falls in. In the formula, R becomes the rent due for the rent period before the first substituted one, rather than the rent for the tenancy's original first rent period. Existing tenancies are covered further below.

Does this apply to every letting in England?

No, and two separate things decide whether it reaches a particular letting.

The first is whether the letting is an assured tenancy, because section 4A is written around one. That is decided by section 1 of the Housing Act 1988 and Part I of Schedule 1 to that Act, which lists tenancies that cannot be assured tenancies. Chapter 2 of Part 1 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 deals separately with tenancies that cannot be assured tenancies: section 31 covers long tenancies and financial services products, and section 32 covers accommodation for homeless people or students. This guide does not work any of that out for a particular home.

The second is commencement. Regulation 2 of S.I. 2026/421 brought Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025, except section 25(3), into force on 1 May 2026 for assured tenancies that are not social housing assured tenancies only. A social housing assured tenancy is defined in section 145(8) of that Act.

Whether a particular letting is an assured tenancy, and whether it is a social housing assured tenancy, are questions this guide does not answer. Anyone whose home might fall into either category should put the agreement to an adviser first, because those two answers decide whether the rest applies.

My tenancy started before 1 May 2026. What happened to it?

Transitional provision for existing tenancies is in Schedule 6 to the Renters' Rights Act 2025, which has effect under section 146(2) of that Act. Section 146(3) defines the commencement date as the day on which Chapter 1 of Part 1 comes into force in accordance with section 145, and provides that where different days are appointed for different purposes, the reference is to the day on which that Chapter comes into force for the purposes of the tenancy the reference relates to.

Paragraph 1 of Schedule 6 applies to an existing tenancy which becomes a periodic tenancy on the expiry of a fixed term. Where the fixed term expires immediately before the commencement date, the amendments made by Chapter 1 of Part 1 do not apply in relation to the tenancy until immediately after the first periodic term has begun. Paragraph 2 changes how section 4A(3), (5) and (6) read for an existing tenancy, so that terms providing for the rent periods are of no effect so far as they relate to rent periods beginning on or after the commencement date.

Paragraphs 3 and 4 deal with a tenancy where a valid notice under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 had been given before the commencement date. In both, the amendments made by Chapter 1 of Part 1 do not apply in relation to the tenancy until that notice ceases to be valid, and the tenancy remains an assured shorthold tenancy until then. Paragraph 3 covers the case where the claimant had already asked the court to issue the claim form, and paragraph 3(1)(b) adds a further condition, that immediately before the commencement date possession proceedings had not begun or had not been concluded. Paragraph 4 covers the case where the claim form had not been requested, and substitutes new time limits into section 21.

Paragraphs 16 and 17 do the same thing for a notice under section 8 of that Act. Where a valid section 8 notice had been given before the commencement date, paragraph 16(3) and paragraph 17(3) each provide that the amendments made by Chapter 1 of Part 1 do not apply in relation to the tenancy until that notice ceases to be valid, and that the tenancy remains an assured shorthold tenancy until then. Paragraph 16 covers the case where the claimant had already asked the court to issue the claim form, with the same further condition in paragraph 16(1)(b) that immediately before the commencement date possession proceedings had not begun or had not been concluded. Paragraph 17 covers the case where the claim form had not been requested.

Neither paragraph 4 nor paragraph 17 defers matters indefinitely. In each, the notice remains valid only until the end of what the paragraph calls the applicable period, unless the claimant has asked the court to issue the claim form before the end of it, in which case it remains valid until the proceedings are concluded. Paragraph 4 substitutes that structure into section 21, and paragraph 17(5) defines the applicable period for a section 8 notice as the twelve month period included in the notice under section 8(3)(c), or the period of three months beginning with the commencement date if that three month period ends first. Working out when the applicable period ended for a particular tenancy is not something this guide does. In each of paragraphs 3, 4, 16 and 17 the definition of the commencement date in section 146(3) is then read by reference to the date the amendments do apply to that tenancy.

How a particular tenancy was carried across is a question about its own dates and documents, and this guide does not answer it. What an assured periodic tenancy is, and how one works, is covered in what a periodic tenancy is under the Renters' Rights Act 2025.

Can my landlord and I just agree a fixed term between us?

Section 4A(7) provides that except as provided by subsections (1) and (3), nothing in section 4A limits any right of the landlord and the tenant to vary a term of a tenancy by agreement. So the freedom to vary is expressly subject to subsections (1) and (3).

Section 4A(1)(a) makes a term providing for a fixed term of no effect, and nothing in it turns on whether the tenant agreed to it. Separately, section 16E(1)(a) prohibits a relevant person from purporting to let a dwelling-house on an assured tenancy for a fixed term, and that prohibition is not written as something a tenant can waive.

This guide does not say what any particular agreed variation does. A renter who has been asked to agree to something should take advice first.

What should I do if I am sent a fixed term agreement?

Five steps: keep the agreement, get anything spoken put in writing, take free advice, take the provisions with you, and tell the council if you decide to.

Keep the agreement exactly as it was sent, with the message it arrived in and its date, before replying to anything. Taking a copy is a private step. VEYLO X is a software platform for renting and letting in England. A renter can hold their own dated copy of what they were sent and when.
If the fixed term was only mentioned out loud, ask for it in writing, so there is a dated record of what was offered.
Take free advice. Citizens Advice and Shelter give free housing advice in England.
Take the provisions with you. Three matter, and an adviser will want them: section 4A(1)(a) of the Housing Act 1988, which makes a term providing for a fixed term of no effect; section 4A(2), which gives the tenancy effect as a periodic tenancy with periods equal to the rent periods; and section 16E(1)(a), which prohibits a relevant person from purporting to let a dwelling-house on an assured tenancy for a fixed term.
Tell the council, if you decide to. Section 16I of the Housing Act 1988 gives the power to impose a financial penalty to a local housing authority, and section 16M(1) of that Act defines which bodies that means.

Two things this guide does not settle can decide the whole question for a particular home: whether the letting is an assured tenancy, and whether it is a social housing assured tenancy. Both are worth putting to an adviser who can look at the actual agreement.

Common questions

Is a 12 month fixed term tenancy agreement still valid in England?

Where section 4A of the Housing Act 1988 applies to the tenancy, the term providing for the fixed term is of no effect. Section 4A(1)(a) makes it of no effect, and section 4A(2) gives the tenancy effect as a periodic tenancy whose periods are the same as the rent periods. Section 4A was inserted by section 1 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025, applies to assured tenancies, and came into force on 1 May 2026 by regulation 2(a) of S.I. 2026/421 for assured tenancies that are not social housing assured tenancies only. Subsection (1)(a) reaches only the term providing for the fixed term. Subsections (1)(b) and (3) reach terms about the periods of the tenancy and the rent periods, and what happens to any other term in the document is a separate question. Whether a letting is an assured tenancy at all is decided by section 1 of, and Part I of Schedule 1 to, the Housing Act 1988, and this VEYLO X guide does not answer it.

Can I leave before the 12 months are up?

Where section 4A of the Housing Act 1988 applies, section 4A(1)(a) makes a term providing for a fixed term of no effect and section 4A(2) gives the tenancy effect as a periodic tenancy, so that clause does not require a tenant to stay for twelve months. The tenancy still has to be brought to an end effectively, and rent remains payable until it ends. Whether section 4A applies to a particular tenancy yet is a separate question: paragraphs 1, 3, 4, 16 and 17 of Schedule 6 to the Renters' Rights Act 2025 provide that the amendments made by Chapter 1 of Part 1 do not apply in relation to certain existing tenancies until a later point, and in the paragraph 3, 4, 16 and 17 cases, which turn on a notice under section 21 or section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 given before the commencement date, the tenancy remains an assured shorthold tenancy until then. A notice to quit given by a tenant in relation to premises let under an assured tenancy is dealt with by section 5(1) and (1ZA) of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, as amended by section 20 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025, and by section 5A of that Act, inserted by section 21. Section 5(1)(a) requires the notice to be in writing and to contain such information as may be prescribed. This VEYLO X guide does not say whether any of that applies to any particular tenancy, and anyone planning to leave should take advice first.

Can my landlord be penalised for giving me a fixed term?

A local housing authority may impose a financial penalty, and there are two powers with two different ceilings. Section 16E(1)(a) of the Housing Act 1988 provides that a relevant person must not, in relation to an assured tenancy, purport to let a dwelling-house on the tenancy for a fixed term. Section 16I(1)(a) allows a local housing authority to impose a penalty where it is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the person contravened any paragraph of section 16E(1) other than paragraph (e), and section 16I(6) caps that penalty at £7,000. Section 16K(1) allows an authority instead to impose a penalty on a person it is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt is guilty of an offence under section 16J, and section 16K(3) caps that one at £40,000. Section 16M(1) defines a relevant person as the landlord, a person acting on behalf of the landlord otherwise than as a legal representative, or a person purporting to act on behalf of the landlord. Two limits apply: the penalty is paid to the authority rather than to the tenant, so it is not compensation, and paragraph 8 of Schedule 6 to the Renters' Rights Act 2025 provides that conduct engaged in, in relation to an existing tenancy, before the commencement date does not give rise to liability to a financial penalty under section 16I or 16K and does not constitute an offence under section 16J.

My rent is payable every three months. Is that allowed?

Section 4A(3) of the Housing Act 1988 makes terms which provide for the rent periods of no effect unless each rent period is a period of 28 days or shorter, or a monthly rent period. Where terms are of no effect by virtue of subsection (3), section 4A(5) gives the tenancy effect as if it provided for successive rent periods of one month beginning with the first day of the tenancy, with the rent for each period calculated in accordance with the formula in subsection (6) and due on the first day of the period. Section 4A(8) treats rent periods as monthly where rent is payable for successive periods of one month, disregarding any provision for the first period to be a different period not exceeding 30 days. For a tenancy that existed before 1 May 2026, paragraph 2 of Schedule 6 to the Renters' Rights Act 2025 changes how those subsections read. This guide does not work the calculation out for any particular rent.

Sources

The primary sources behind this guide. Where the law and a summary disagree, the law is what counts.

This article is general information, not legal advice. It covers England only and reflects the position as at November 2026. For your own situation, take advice, and consider free advice from Citizens Advice or Shelter.

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