Chapter 6 of 10 · Ending it yourself · 3 of 6
Giving notice to your landlord: periods and the letter
28 to 112 days by tenancy length, how to serve it so the date is provable, and the letter.
Checked 27 OCT 2026 · 3 sourcesWritten in plain English for the person paying the rent. This guide covers the Republic of Ireland only.
How much notice you must give depends on one thing: how long you have lived in the home on the day you serve the notice. The Act's table for a tenant runs from 28 days for a tenancy under six months to 112 days after eight years. The period is the same whether your landlord is a smaller or a larger landlord, and whether the tenancy began before or after 1 March 2026.
The notice itself has to be in writing, signed, and clear about the date you are leaving. A fixed-term lease can change the position, because a lease is a contract that runs to its end date unless it gives you a way out. The giving-notice tool works out the period for your tenancy length, the earliest day you can lawfully leave, and the letter.
This guide covers the Republic of Ireland only. It is about ending a tenancy by your own choice; if the landlord has served a notice on you, start with the notice journey instead.
The notice periods for a tenant
| How long you have been in the tenancy | Notice you must give |
|---|---|
| Less than 6 months | 28 days |
| 6 months to 1 year | 35 days |
| 1 year to 2 years | 42 days |
| 2 years to 4 years | 56 days |
| 4 years to 8 years | 84 days |
| 8 years or more | 112 days |
The band is fixed on the day the notice is served, not on the day you leave. The period is counted from the day after the date of service, and the termination date is the last day of the tenancy. You have the whole of that day.
An example. You moved in on 1 February 2025 and serve notice on 27 October 2026. You are in the one-to-two-years band, so you owe 42 days. The 42 days run from 28 October and the earliest termination date falls in early December; the tool gives the exact day. If you had served the notice a few months later, after the second anniversary, the period would have been 56 days.
The landlord's periods are longer, 90 to 224 days, and are set out in notice periods for tenants in 2026. Do not mix the two tables up: the short table is yours.
28 days where the landlord is in breach
Section 68 gives you a shorter route where the landlord has failed in one of their obligations. The failure might be a repair that has not been done, entry without arrangement, or any other breach of section 12. You must first tell the landlord in writing what is wrong and give a reasonable time to put it right. If it is not put right, you may serve a notice giving 28 days, whatever the length of your tenancy.
Keep the warning letter and the reply, or the silence. The letter builder has a repair request with a date in it, which doubles as the written warning. A 28-day notice on this ground can be disputed by the landlord, so the paper trail matters.
Shorter notice by agreement
You and the landlord can agree a shorter period than the table gives, and section 69 allows that. The agreement must be made once you have decided to leave; a clause in the lease fixing a short period in advance does not count. Ask in writing, and keep the reply that names the new leaving date. If the landlord says no, the table applies.
A fixed-term lease
A fixed-term lease binds both sides until its end date. Serving the table period during the term does not, on its own, release you from the rent for the rest of it. There are three lawful ways out before the end: a break clause in the lease, the 28-day breach route above, and an assignment request the landlord refuses. Breaking a fixed-term lease goes through each, and what a landlord may and may not claim if you leave early.
If your lease has run out and nobody signed a new one, you are in a periodic tenancy and the table alone applies.
What the notice must contain
Section 62 sets the contents of every notice of termination, and the same list applies to yours. The notice must be in writing and signed by you. It must give the date of service, the termination date, and the address of the dwelling. Where there are joint tenants and you are all leaving, every tenant should sign. A reason is not required from a tenant.
A text message is not a written, signed notice. An email with your name at the end is generally treated as one, and it carries its own date. Since 14 September 2026 the Act also requires the landlord to send the RTB a copy of a landlord's notice; that rule is written for the landlord's notice, not yours.
How to serve it so the date is provable
The notice period starts from the date of service, which is the day the notice reaches the landlord. A date on the letter proves nothing by itself; what you need is proof of the day it arrived.
Email is the simplest proof. Send it to the address the landlord or agent uses with you, and keep the sent email with its time stamp. Hand delivery is as good if someone is with you: write the date on your copy and have the witness initial it. Post is the weakest method, because a posted notice is served when it is delivered, not when it is sent. If you must post, use registered post and keep the tracking record, and expect the period to run from the delivery date.
Do all three if the landlord is hard to reach. One notice, served by email and by hand on the same day, leaves no room for argument about when the clock started.
The letter
This is a plain notice in our words, not an RTB form. The names and dates are examples. Put in your own and keep a copy.
Notice of termination of tenancy at 14 Elm Terrace, Cork, T12 AB12.
To Sinead Byrne, landlord.
From Aoife Walsh, tenant.
My tenancy began on 1 February 2025.
This notice is served on 27 October 2026, by email and by hand.
My tenancy will end on 9 December 2026, which is the termination date.
I will pay rent to that date and return the keys on it.
My forwarding address for the deposit and any post is 3 Mill Road, Cork, T12 CD34.
Please confirm in writing that you have received this notice.
Signed: Aoife Walsh, tenant.
Date: 27 October 2026.
Use your own dates. The termination date must be on or after the earliest lawful date for your band; a later date is always allowed. The giving-notice tool fills the letter from your answers and makes a calendar file of the dates.
After you serve it
Keep paying rent to the termination date. The deposit is not the last month's rent, and treating it that way turns a clean exit into a rent arrears dispute. The landlord returns the deposit after you leave, less only what the Act allows; getting your deposit back covers that.
Once served, a notice cannot be taken back by you alone. If your plans change, ask the landlord in writing whether they will agree to withdraw it, and do not assume they will. If you leave before the termination date, rent is still due to that date. If you stay past it, the tenancy has ended and you are overholding.
In the last fortnight, work through the moving-out checklist: photographs, readings, keys with a dated note, and the deposit request in writing.
Where this leaves you
Your notice period is in the table: 28, 35, 42, 56, 84 or 112 days, fixed by how long you have been there on the day you serve. The landlord's breach after a written warning brings it to 28 days, and an agreement in writing can shorten it further. A fixed-term lease needs its own route before the table applies. Write the notice, sign it, serve it by email and by hand, and keep the proof of the day it arrived. Run the giving-notice tool for the dates, keep paying rent to the last day, and ring Threshold on 1800 454 454 if the landlord disputes any of it.
Questions people ask
How much notice do I have to give my landlord in Ireland?
It depends on how long you have been in the tenancy on the day you serve the notice. Under six months, 28 days. Six months to a year, 35 days. One to two years, 42 days. Two to four years, 56 days. Four to eight years, 84 days. Eight years or more, 112 days. Where the landlord is in breach and has been warned in writing, 28 days whatever the length. A fixed-term lease may bind you for longer unless it has a break clause.
Can I give notice by text or email?
A notice of termination must be in writing and signed, so a text message is not enough. An email with your name typed at the end is generally accepted as a written, signed notice, and it leaves a dated record. If you are not sure the landlord reads that address, hand over a signed paper copy as well and keep a photograph of it.
Do I have to give a reason for leaving?
No. The Act requires a reason on a landlord's notice, not on a tenant's. You can say why if you want to, and it sometimes helps the relationship, but a tenant's notice without a reason is not defective for that.
Can I leave sooner if my landlord agrees?
Yes. Section 69 lets you and the landlord agree a shorter period, but only once the decision to leave has arisen, not as a clause written into the lease in advance. Get the agreement in writing, with the new leaving date, before you rely on it.
What happens if I leave without giving notice?
The tenancy does not end just because you have gone. The landlord may claim rent for the notice period you should have given, and rent arrears are one of the deductions the Act allows from a deposit. Serving a proper notice, even a late one, limits what can be claimed. The RTB decides any dispute about the amount.