Can the landlord terminate?

Ordinary termination by giving your notice is the common way for a landlord to end a tenancy agreement during tenancy.

What right the landlord has to terminate the tenancy is often written in the contract. The landlord can terminate a time specified tenancy if it is agreed upon. If nothing else is agreed upon, the landlord can terminate an unspecified tenancy agreement.

The tenants protection against the landlord's termination

The main rule is that the tenant is protected against the termination by the landlord. Amongst other, this protection means that the landlord must have a just cause for terminating, and that the tenant has the right to object. The landlord can submit a complaint to the Rent Disputes Tribunal if the tenant objects to the notice of termination. The Rent Disputes Tribunal can decide if the notice is valid.

What must the landlord's notice include?

The main rule is that the landlord's notice must be in writing and include specific information.

The notice must:

• be in writing
• include an explanation
• inform the tenant that they have a right to object in writing within one month of the notice being received
• inform the tenant that if they do not object within the deadline, the tenant loses their right to claim that the termination is against the Tenancy Act

Just causes for termination

The landlord must have a just cause for terminating the tenancy. He can give terminate if:

• the residence is going to be used by the landlord himself or anyone who belongs to his household
• the residence is going to be torn down or remodelled in such a way that it is necessary for the tenant to move out
• the tenant has breached the contract, or
• the landlord has other just causes for terminating the contract.

Another just cause might for example be that the landlord has sold the property. If however the termination is reasoned in for example the tenants religion or ethnicity, it would not constitute a just cause.

The tenant has a right to object in writing to the termination within one month from when the notice was received. The tenants right to object applies even if the landlord has a just cause for terminating the tenancy.

If the tenant gives a written objection within the deadline, the landlord has a deadline of three months to bring action (submit a complaint to the Rent Disputes Tribunal) against the tenant to settle whether the termination is valid. The deadline of three months runs from when the tenant's deadline to object expired. If the landlord does not submit a complaint within the deadline, the termination is void. The tenant may then continue to live there.

What if the tenant does not object?

If the tenant does not object within one month after the notice was received, the termination is considered accepted. If the tenant still does not move out, the landlord can ask the enforcement officer to evict the tenant.

What happens in a case regarding the termination by the landlord in the Rent Disputes Tribunal?

In a case about termination by the landlord, the Rent Disputes Tribunal can decide if the termination is valid in a written decision. The landlord and tenant will first be offered an opportunity to explain themselves verbally in a joint meeting at the Rent Disputes Tribunal. If the parties need a interpreter in the meeting, the Rent Disputes Tribunal will book and pay for the interpreter.

Even if the landlord has just cause for terminating the tenancy, the Rent Disputes Tribunal can set the termination aside if it will be considered to have unreasonable effects. The landlord's need to end the tenancy agreement must be weighed against the tenant's need to stay on in the residence.

If the tenant has committed a serious breach of contract it will however not be made an assessment of if the termination will have unreasonable effects. In such cases The Rent Disputes Tribunal cannot set the landlord's termination aside if it is valid.

Exemptions from the tenant's protection from termination

If the tenancy agreement is regarding a single room where the tenant has access to the landlord's own housing, for example the landlord's bathroom or kitchen, the tenant is not protected against termination from the landlord. The only requirement for the landlord's notice is that it is in writing.

The tenants protections against termination from the landlord also does not apply for tenancy agreements concerning tenancy of a residence the landlord himself has used as his own housing, and which is only being rented out for a temporary absence on up to five years. This does however only apply if the tenant has been informed in writing that the agreement is regarding such housing, and that this gives the tenant fewer rights than that of a different property.

There is also some other laws for termination by the landlord in tenancy agreements where workers rent housing from their employer.