A notice of termination for a tenancy agreement

Western Australia’s temporary changes to renting laws due to COVID-19 ended on Sunday 28 March 2021.

The usual rental laws under the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (WA) came back into force.

There are steps necessary to legally end a tenancy.

 A residential tenancy will end when a tenant vacates the premises under a notice of termination lawfully issued by the landlord or when a court orders a termination.

What does a valid termination notice have to include?

When you issue a notice of termination for a tenancy agreement, there are some specific requirements you must follow to make it valid. It must:

• be in writing on the appropriate prescribed form;
• specify the address of the property;
• specify the reason, if there is one, for terminating the tenancy;
• state the exact vacate date; and
• be signed by you or the landlord. 

There are different timeframes for terminating a tenancy agreement depending on the reason for the termination:

• A fixed-term tenancy agreement does not automatically end on the listed expiry date and requires advance written notice of the intention to terminate the agreement, provided by either the landlord or the tenant.

• When the Form 1C notice is issued by you, the vacate date must be at least 30 days after the tenant should receive the notice. The vacate date cannot be before the expiry date of the agreement. If the vacate date is after the expiry date of the agreement, the tenant can choose to vacate the property at any time after the expiry date but before the vacate date.

• Similarly, you may choose to terminate a periodic tenancy without having to provide a reason why. This is perhaps the most common choice for ending a periodic tenancy. When the Form 1C notice is issued by you, the vacate date must be at least 60 days after the tenant should receive the notice.