What Is a Periodic Tenancy Now? Statutory Periodic Tenancies Explained

If a letting agent tells you in 2026 that your tenancy "became a statutory periodic tenancy", they are describing a mechanism that no longer exists.

That is not a quibble about terminology. The statutory periodic tenancy was a defined creature of the Housing Act 1988 with its own sections, its own definition and its own rules — and on 1 May 2026 all of it was deleted from the Act for private lettings. Understanding what replaced it explains a surprising number of the things landlords find confusing about the current regime.

Disclaimer: This guide is for information only and does not constitute legal advice. It describes the position in England as at 19 August 2026. Always consult a solicitor for your specific situation.

What the Old Statutory Periodic Tenancy Actually Was

Under the pre-2026 scheme, a fixed-term assured shorthold tenancy ended on its expiry date. If the tenant stayed on, the Act deemed a brand new periodic tenancy into existence to take its place. That new tenancy was the statutory periodic tenancy.

The machinery sat in four places:

• Section 5(2) and (3) — the deeming provision that brought the new tenancy into being
• Section 5(7) — the label itself
• Section 45(1) — the definition in the Act's own interpretation section
• Section 6 — the procedure by which either party could propose different terms for the new tenancy

The important point is the one people miss: it was a second tenancy. The fixed term died and something else was created. That is why the old scheme needed a whole section to sort out what the terms of the new thing were.

What Happened to It

All four provisions were omitted for private assured tenancies on 1 May 2026 by the commencement regulations made under the Renters' Rights Act 2025:

• Section 5(2) to (7) — omitted
• The section 45(1) definition — omitted
• Section 6 — omitted in its entirety
• Section 5(1) amended, so that the words "a periodic assured tenancy" become simply "an assured tenancy"

The phrase has been removed from the Housing Act's own dictionary. It survives in exactly two places: social housing assured tenancies, which the commencement regulations carved out of this change, and section 147 of the Renters' Rights Act, which uses it for one narrow historical purpose we come back to below.

What Replaced It

The new structure is set by three provisions working together: section 1 of the Act (which inserts a new section 4A into the Housing Act 1988), section 2 (which simply says "omit Chapter 2 of Part 1" — the assured shorthold chapter), and section 146 (which continues existing tenancies as "section 4A assured tenancies").

The commencement regulations describe the effect in a single sentence:

"including the abolition of fixed term and shorthold assured tenancies, so that all tenancies under that Act will now be assured periodic tenancies, and the abolition of 'section 21 evictions'"

Here is the conceptual shift, and it is worth pausing on:

• Old scheme: a fixed term, which expires, after which a second tenancy is deemed into existence.
• New scheme: one tenancy, which is periodic from day one and never expires.

There is no expiry event, so there is nothing to convert into. Nothing is "deemed". The tenancy simply continues until the tenant ends it, or the landlord obtains possession on one of the Section 8 grounds.

The Mechanics of Section 4A

Fixed terms are of no effect. Section 4A(1) and (2) provide that a term purporting to create a fixed term, and a term setting periods that do not match the rent periods, are "of no effect". Note the wording carefully: fixed terms are not unlawful and the agreement is not void. The offending term simply does nothing, and everything else in the agreement continues to apply.

The periods follow the rent. The tenancy's periods are its rent periods. If rent is payable monthly, the tenancy runs in monthly periods.

The rent-period cap is not simply "one month". Section 4A(3) permits a rent period of 28 days or shorter, or a monthly rent period. Weekly, fortnightly and 28-day arrangements are all fine. Section 4A(8) additionally permits a first period of up to 30 days in a monthly arrangement, which is what makes a mid-month start date workable.

Quarterly and annual rent no longer works. Where the terms do not comply with section 4A(3), section 4A(5) supplies the answer: the tenancy runs in successive one-month periods, with the rent calculated by a statutory formula and due on the first day of each period. If your agreement provides for quarterly rent, this is the provision that now governs it.

Everything else survives. Section 4A(7) preserves freedom of contract on all other terms. Pets, smoking, decoration, garden maintenance, use of the property — none of that is touched by section 4A.

Existing tenancies are handled slightly differently: paragraph 2 of Schedule 6 modifies how section 4A applies to a tenancy that was already running on 1 May 2026.

"Most" Existing Tenancies Converted — Which Ones Did Not

GOV.UK's own phrasing is careful:

"Most existing assured shorthold tenancies automatically became assured periodic tenancies on 1 May 2026"

The word doing the work is most. The exceptions are in Schedule 6:

• Paragraphs 3 and 4 — where a valid Section 21 notice had already been served before the commencement date, the tenancy remains an assured shorthold while that notice runs its course
• Paragraphs 16 and 17 — the equivalent preservation where a Section 8 notice was already live
• Paragraph 1 — deals with a fixed term that expired immediately before the commencement date

If you served a notice in April 2026, in other words, your tenancy may not have converted when everyone else's did. That is an unusual situation now, more than three months on, but it explains contradictory advice you may have received at the time.

Where the Old Phrase Still Matters: Section 147

There is one live, practical reason to care about the old statutory periodic tenancy, and it concerns when your tenancy is treated as having begun.

Section 147 of the Renters' Rights Act provides that a fixed term followed by a statutory periodic tenancy is treated as a single assured tenancy, entered into when the fixed term was entered into. This provision has been in force since Royal Assent.

That matters because Grounds 1 and 1A — the landlord moving in, and the landlord selling — are subject to a protected period requiring that the tenancy began at least a year before the date specified in the notice. Section 147 means the clock runs from the original fixed term, not from the date the old statutory periodic tenancy sprang into existence. For a landlord who let on a twelve-month fixed term in 2023 and has been rolling ever since, that is straightforwardly good news.

Fixed Terms, and Two Tenancies That Cannot Be Assured At All

Because "fixed terms are abolished" gets repeated loosely, two distinctions are worth keeping straight.

A fixed term written into an ordinary residential agreement is not illegal and does not invalidate the agreement. The term is of no effect. The tenancy is periodic regardless of what the document says.

Separately, paragraphs 3D and 3E of Schedule 1 to the Housing Act 1988 — inserted by section 31 of the Act and in force since 27 December 2025 — describe tenancies that cannot be assured tenancies at all: leases of more than 21 years, and leases of between seven and 21 years granted before or shortly after the Act. These are not exceptions to section 4A. They sit outside the assured tenancy regime entirely, and if you are granting a long lease you are in different territory and should take advice.

What This Changes Day to Day

You do not need to reissue tenancy agreements. GOV.UK is explicit: "If you have a written record of the agreement … you do not need to change the tenancy agreement. Instead, you must give your tenants the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet by the 31 May 2026." The statutory hook is paragraph 7(2) of Schedule 6. Fixed-term and non-compliant rent-period clauses in your existing agreement are simply inert.

There is no renewal, and therefore no renewal date. Rent increases run through the Section 13 process and nothing else — see our walkthrough of how to serve a Section 13 notice and, if the tenant challenges it, how to evidence a market rent increase for the tribunal.

The tenant's exit is governed by a different Act entirely. A tenant ending an assured tenancy does so under section 5 of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, as amended — not under the Housing Act 1988. That produces some counter-intuitive end dates, which we cover in how much notice a tenant has to give now.

Your possession planning is different. With no expiry date to work back from, the timing question becomes: which ground, what notice period, and what evidence. Our page on what landlords must do now Section 21 is gone covers the operational consequences, and the assured periodic tenancy explainer covers the structure itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do statutory periodic tenancies still exist?

Not for private assured tenancies in England. The machinery that created them — section 5(2) to (7) of the Housing Act 1988, the definition in section 45(1), and section 6 on varying the terms — was omitted on 1 May 2026 for private assured tenancies. The phrase survives for social housing assured tenancies, and inside section 147 of the Renters' Rights Act for the specific purpose of working out when a converted tenancy is treated as having begun.

Is my existing tenancy agreement still valid after the conversion?

Yes, and you do not need to reissue it. GOV.UK's position is that if you have a written record of the agreement you do not need to change the tenancy agreement. What you did have to do was give tenants the Renters' Rights Act Information Sheet by 31 May 2026. Any term providing for a fixed term, or for rent periods longer than the Act allows, is simply of no effect — the rest of the agreement stands.

How long can a rent period be now?

Section 4A(3) of the Housing Act 1988 allows a rent period of 28 days or shorter, or a monthly rent period. It is not simply capped at one month — a weekly, fortnightly or 28-day period is equally valid, and section 4A(8) permits a first period of up to 30 days in a monthly arrangement. Quarterly and annual rent periods no longer work: where the terms do not comply, the tenancy runs in successive one-month periods instead.

Keeping the Structure Straight

A tenancy with no end date changes what your records need to do. There is no renewal to prompt you into checking the file, no expiry to force a tidy-up, and no natural moment at which the paperwork gets reviewed.

LetSorted holds the tenancy structure — start date, rent period, rent amount, the twelve-month window before the next Section 13 notice — alongside compliance documents and their expiry dates, so the review happens on the system's schedule rather than nobody's.

Set your tenancies up properly while there is nothing urgent to fix.