Notice of termination: what a valid notice must contain

A notice of termination is the only way a landlord can lawfully end a tenancy under the Residential Tenancies Act. It is a document with set contents, and a notice that misses one of them may be invalid. An invalid notice does not end your tenancy, whatever the termination date on it says.

Section 62 of the Act lists what the notice must contain. Since 1 March 2026 that list includes a reason on every notice, and since 14 September 2026 the landlord must also send the RTB a copy within 7 days of serving it. The notice checker takes you through each item against your own notice and works out the dates.

This guide covers the Republic of Ireland only. The rules differ in one important way depending on when your tenancy began, and the sections below say where.

What section 62 requires

A valid notice of termination must:

The termination date must give you the whole of that day. If the notice says you must leave by the morning of the termination date, the landlord has misread the Act.

The notice period is part of validity

A notice that does not give the full period the Act requires is defective, however carefully it is written. The period depends on how long you have been in the tenancy on the date of service and on the ground. The periods run from 90 days for a tenancy under six months to 224 days after eight years. A breach of your obligations after a warning carries 28 days. Serious anti-social behaviour carries 7 days with no warning.

The periods are the same for smaller and larger landlords. The full tables are in notice periods for tenants in 2026, and the tenancy timeline shows the band you are in today and the date it changes.

The reason, and whether the ground is open to your landlord

Every notice must state a reason. Whether that reason is a lawful ground depends on when your tenancy began.

Began before 1 March 2026. The old grounds apply to any landlord: a breach of your obligations, rent arrears after a warning, serious anti-social behaviour, the dwelling no longer suiting the household, the landlord intends to sell, the landlord or a family member needs to live in it, substantial refurbishment, and change of use. Landlord size does not matter. For a tenancy that began before 11 June 2022 the landlord may also end it without a reason at the end of each six-year Part 4 cycle.

Began on or after 1 March 2026. A larger landlord, meaning one with four or more tenancies or any company, may end the tenancy only for a breach, arrears, serious anti-social behaviour, or the dwelling no longer suiting the household. A larger landlord cannot end it to sell or to move family in. A smaller landlord, an individual with three or fewer tenancies, may end it during a six-year cycle only for close family occupation or a hardship sale. At the end of a cycle a smaller landlord may also use a sale, substantial refurbishment and change of use.

Size is assessed on the day the notice is served. You can ask the RTB in writing whether your landlord has three or fewer tenancies; the letter builder has the request, and smaller and larger landlords explains the rule.

The statutory declaration

Where the ground is a sale, family occupation, substantial refurbishment or change of use, the landlord must attach a statutory declaration. That is a sworn statement, signed before a solicitor or a commissioner for oaths, confirming the facts the ground needs. For a hardship sale the declaration must state the hardship ground itself.

A notice on one of these grounds without a declaration may be invalid. A declaration that turns out to be untrue is a serious matter for the landlord, and the RTB can award damages where the ground was not genuine. If you later learn the home was re-let rather than sold, or the family member never moved in, keep the evidence.

The copy to the RTB and the method of service

Since 14 September 2026 the landlord must send the RTB a copy of the notice within 7 days of serving it on you. Between 1 March and 13 September 2026 the copy had to go the same day. A notice whose copy did not reach the RTB in time is invalid under the Act as amended. You can ask the RTB whether it received a copy; the RTB copy rule guide explains how.

The same amendment followed a High Court decision, Argutinski v RTB, on service by post. A posted notice is served when it is delivered or received, not when it is sent, so the date of service written on the notice may be wrong. The RTB now recommends email or hand delivery for termination notices. If yours came by post, write down the day it arrived: that is your date of service.

What to do with the notice

Do not move out and do not stop paying rent. An invalid notice does not end the tenancy, and rent arrears would give the landlord a ground they did not have.

Run the notice through the notice checker. It lists each requirement against your answers and works out the notice period for your tenancy length. It gives the earliest lawful termination date and the last day to refer a dispute, and makes a calendar file of the dates.

Ring Threshold on 1800 454 454, Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm, with the notice in front of you. The advisers are free and they read notices every day.

If anything is missing, refer the notice to the RTB within 90 days of service, or 28 days for a breach notice. Mediation is free and private. Adjudication costs €30 and, since 14 September 2026, the hearing is public and the report names both parties. How to make an RTB dispute application covers the form; nothing is filed on this site.

Keep the notice, the envelope or the email, and a note of the date and the way it reached you in your tenancy file.

Where this leaves you

A notice of termination has to pass a list, and the list is in section 62. In writing, signed, dated, the date of service, the termination date, a reason, the dispute statement, a declaration where the ground needs one, and a copy to the RTB within 7 days. A notice that fails the list may be invalid, and only the RTB can say so. Your part is to check it, keep paying the rent, ring Threshold, and refer it to the RTB inside the window if anything is wrong. The notice journey takes those steps in order.