Girilang The four months before a lease ends
Most expensive end-of-tenancy outcomes trace back to a decision that should have been made months earlier.
- NSW
- 6 min read
- Published:
- 29 April 2026
- Last updated:
- 6 October 2026
The end of a fixed term is the one point in a tenancy when the rent, the term and whether it continues at all are all open. Many self-managing landlords notice it a fortnight too late, when most of those options have closed.
In New South Wales the 90-day mark is a deadline rather than a planning date, so you want the decision made well before you reach it. Everything below hangs off one habit: a reminder four months out.
The notice periods
Landlord ending a fixed term of six months or less, on its end date
- Notice
- 60 days
Landlord ending a fixed term longer than six months, on its end date
- Notice
- 90 days
Landlord ending a periodic tenancy
- Notice
- 90 days
Tenant ending a fixed term on its end date
- Notice
- 14 days
Tenant ending a periodic tenancy
- Notice
- 21 days
Landlord increasing the rent
- Notice
- 60 days, and once in any twelve months
| Who, and what | Notice |
|---|---|
| Landlord ending a fixed term of six months or less, on its end date | 60 days |
| Landlord ending a fixed term longer than six months, on its end date | 90 days |
| Landlord ending a periodic tenancy | 90 days |
| Tenant ending a fixed term on its end date | 14 days |
| Tenant ending a periodic tenancy | 21 days |
| Landlord increasing the rent | 60 days, and once in any twelve months |
Four months out: decide, then ask
Before you talk to anyone, answer three questions honestly. Do you want this tenant to stay? Is the rent where it should be? Is there work on the property that is easier between tenancies than around one?
A good tenant paying slightly under market is often worth more than a stranger paying market, because the stranger comes with a vacancy, letting costs, a round of applications and the chance of being worse. The guide to reducing turnover puts rough figures on that arithmetic, so do it before you decide the rent is too low.
Then ask plainly whether they intend to stay. Tenants are usually more forthcoming than landlords expect, and the answer shapes everything that follows. If you plan to raise the rent, say so now, so the formal notice is not the first the tenant hears of it.
Ninety days out: serve any termination notice
If the tenancy should end and you have a reason the Act permits, this is the deadline for a fixed term longer than six months. For a term of six months or less the notice is 60 days, which moves this step back a month. Miss it and the term can no longer end on its end date at your request.
Sixty days out: serve the rent-increase notice
If the tenancy is continuing at a higher rent, serve the notice now. The new rent starts no earlier than 60 days after the notice is given, and no earlier than twelve months after the last increase. Serve it any later and the new rent starts after the end date.
Thirty days out: paper the decision
- 1 Renewing: issue the new agreement early enough to be signed before the current term ends.
- 2 Raising the rent: the notice should already be served. If it is not, the new rent starts 60 days after the day you serve it. Keep proof of service either way.
- 3 Ending it: if notice has not been given by now, the term cannot end on its end date at your request. The tenancy continues as periodic, and ending that takes 90 days’ notice and a permitted reason.
- 4 Doing nothing on purpose: understand that the tenancy will usually continue as periodic, under periodic notice rules.
The fortnight before
If the tenancy is ending, book the outgoing inspection, put in writing what “reasonably clean” means for this property, and have the ingoing condition report ready to compare. If it is continuing, file the new agreement with the tenancy and set the reminder for the next end date.
See every lease end before it arrives
Ending terms, rent reviews and unlodged bonds show on your dashboard and calendar. Schedule a rent increase and Girilang shows the earliest date the NSW notice rules allow; you serve the notice and Girilang records it.
