Lease renewal and notice periods in Queensland: who has to tell whom, and when

When a fixed term ends, the tenancy usually does not

This is the misunderstanding worth clearing up first. In Queensland, if a fixed term agreement reaches its end date and neither party has given notice, the tenancy does not stop - it continues as a periodic agreement on the same terms. The tenant stays, the rent stays the same, and the obligations on both sides carry on unchanged.

That is not a loophole or an oversight; it is how the legislation is designed to work, and for a lot of owners it is the outcome they wanted anyway. It only becomes a problem when an owner assumed the tenancy had ended and made plans on that basis.

The notice periods

Two numbers cover most situations, and they are not symmetrical:

• →Owner or agent to tenant, at the end of a fixed term: a Notice to leave (Form 12), with a minimum of two months. It can be given as late as the day before the agreement ends, but the two months still runs from the date it is given - so a notice served on the last day pushes the vacate date two months past the end of the lease.
• →Tenant to owner or agent: a Notice of intention to leave (Form 13), with a minimum of 14 days, unless the owner has breached the agreement.
• →Either party, ending early by agreement: allowed, but it has to be in writing. A verbal agreement to finish early is not enough.

The date that actually counts

Where an agreement end date and a notice period disagree, the tenancy finishes on whichever is later. A notice given close to the end of a fixed term therefore extends the tenancy rather than shortening it, which catches out owners who have a settlement date or a renovation booked.

If you are working backwards from a fixed date, count from the notice, not from the lease.

Grounds, and why they are not listed here

Queensland requires an approved ground to end a tenancy in most circumstances, and the list has changed more than once in recent years. Rather than publish a list that quietly goes out of date, we point you at the source: the Residential Tenancies Authority maintains the current grounds, the forms and the notice periods, and it is the only version that is definitely right on the day you read it.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. If a date matters to you, confirm it with the RTA or ask us to check the specific agreement.

What we do about it

Lease expiries are diarised well ahead, not noticed when they land. That means a rent review with time to act on it, a renewal conversation with the tenant before they start looking elsewhere, and - where an owner does want the property back - notice served early enough that the two months does not become four.

Most vacancies we see in other agencies' books were not caused by a bad tenant. They were caused by an expiry nobody watched.