Surrendering a Tenancy Agreement by Mutual Consent

Law & Regulation • 16 Jun 2026, 14:49

Surrendering a Tenancy Agreement by Mutual Consent

There are two main ways to end a rolling periodic tenancy in England: either by serving notice or by mutual agreement.

If one party wants to end the tenancy, it’s important to follow the latest statutory rules closely to ensure everything happens fairly and smoothly.

However, if both the landlord and the tenant agree to end the tenancy through mutual surrender, they don’t need to stick to the contract’s specific rules, like how much notice to give.

Here you’ll find how to do this and how to end a tenancy early using a deed of surrender. Plus, you can download our free deed of surrender template, helping you keep everything simple and properly documented.

Why consider a mutual surrender?
Express surrender
Implied surrender
Surrendering a tenancy when the tenant abandons the property
How mutual surrender works in Wales

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Why consider a mutual surrender?

In a rental market running entirely on rolling periodic cycles, a mutual surrender serves as a flexible, cooperative escape route for both parties:

The tenant’s perspective: If a tenant faces a sudden change in circumstances (e.g., a job relocation or financial crisis), they can request an immediate exit, avoiding the mandatory 2-month rolling notice period they may not be able to afford.
The landlord’s perspective: If you want possession but lack a mandatory Section 8 ground (or want to avoid the lengthy, evidence-heavy court system), agreeing to a mutual surrender lets you regain your property on an exact, agreed day.

Under current rules, a mutual surrender can happen on any day of the month, though landlords are legally obligated to issue a pro-rata rent refund for any advance rent covering days past the surrender date.

A mutual surrender can be executed in one of two ways: express or implied.

Express surrender

An express surrender occurs when you and the tenant agree on the terms of ending the tenancy in writing in a deed.

It’s highly recommended to formalise the surrender in writing because those without a written agreement (implied surrenders) can be much more complicated.

Specifically, you must clearly state the conditions under which you will retrieve the keys. For example, if you relet your property to new tenants shortly after the previous ones leave and then try to hold the original tenants responsible for losses during the vacant period, it might be considered that the original tenancy ended when the property was relet.

Moreover, if you don’t ensure the situation is clear, the courts may deem that you’re illegally evicting the tenant.

For example, if the tenant returns the keys without explicitly stating that the tenancy has ended, and you subsequently change the locks, if the tenant then attempts to regain access to the property, it could be concluded that you are illegally excluding the tenant from the property.

Once again, the main problem here is that the actions of both parties didn’t clearly show that the tenancy was over. A well-written deed of surrender should help you avoid such problems.

What to include in a written express surrender of tenancy

To be as complete as possible, any tenancy surrender should include the following:

Basic details

The address of the property
The names and addresses of all the parties involved (including any joint tenants or contract-holders)

Terms

The date that the agreement will end
The terms under which the agreement ends
In particular, whether any further payments are due from the tenants (such as further rent payments, money from the deposit, or a lump sum agreed to cover the landlord’s costs). Note that under the Tenant Fees Act, any landlord-requested surrender fee must strictly reflect actual re-letting costs, whereas a tenant-requested surrender allows for mutual compensation.
Whether any of the obligations under the tenancy remain, or whether they will be discharged in full once the document is signed. Under 2026 rules, any advance rent covering days after the agreed surrender date must be refunded to the tenant pro rata.

Signatures

The signatures of all parties
The date that the document was signed
Under what conditions the document will be considered legally binding (e.g., only when signed and dated by all parties)
The signatures and clear details of independent witnesses (this isn’t mandatory, but often highly recommended, as having each party sign in the physical presence of a witness ensures the document can be executed as a formal legal deed)

Ending a joint tenancy by mutual surrender

Executing a mutual surrender on a joint tenancy in England requires absolute unanimity, as all named tenants must act together as a single legal entity.

Unlike a standard notice to quit (which can be served by a single joint tenant to legally terminate the entire agreement for everyone), a mutual surrender cannot be executed unilaterally.

Every single joint tenant on the agreement must explicitly consent to the terms and physically sign the formal Deed of Surrender alongside you, with all signatures properly witnessed.

If you attempt to execute a surrender with only one occupant while the other joint tenants wish to stay, the transaction is legally void, meaning the tenancy remains active. You risk facing a severe unlawful eviction claim.

Once a valid deed is signed by all parties, the joint tenancy ends cleanly on the agreed date, legally obligating you to calculate and return a pro-rata refund for any advance rent covering days beyond the surrender point.

Implied surrender

This is a more complex scenario and should be avoided if possible.

Remember, a surrender occurs when both you and the tenant agree to end the tenancy. The best way to do this is through a written agreement whenever feasible. However, legally, such an agreement can also be implied from the behaviour of both parties.

An implied surrender happens when the actions of both you and the tenant indicate your mutual agreement that the tenancy has ended. This is also known as ending the tenancy by ‘operation of law’.

Examples of implied surrender include the tenant returning the keys, you accepting them, reletting the property, as well as entering the property without seeking the tenant’s permission.

Because such agreements are not written, implied surrenders often lead to ambiguities and disagreements. However, they can also act as a safety net to prevent you from being left uncertain if a tenant suddenly abandons the property without notice.

Get OpenRent’s free Deed of Surrender template now!

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Surrendering a tenancy when the tenant abandons the property

When a tenant suddenly leaves the property and stops paying rent, this is often referred to as ‘abandonment’ or ‘abandoning the property’.

What to do if you suspect the tenant has abandoned your property

If you suspect that your property has been abandoned, the first step is to attempt to contact the tenant. It’s important to confirm whether the tenancy has indeed been permanently abandoned.

Keep in mind that if you assume possession of the property before the tenancy has legally ended, you will not be able to claim rent for that same period. For example, if you believe the property is abandoned in June and move back in during July, you cannot also demand rent from the tenant for July.

Two ways to end an abandoned tenancy

If contacting the tenant isn’t possible and there are strong indications of abandonment, there are two main ways to terminate the tenancy to relet the property.

The first course of action you can take is eviction by using a Section 8 notice. Section 21 evictions have been completely abolished in England since 1st May 2026, meaning you can no longer reclaim possession without a specific statutory ground.

Therefore, if a property is abandoned and rent is no longer being paid, you can serve a Section 8 eviction notice due to non-payment of rent using the updated 2026 grounds (which require at least 3 full months of rent arrears for a mandatory Ground 8 possession in England, up from the old 2-month rule).

As other tenancy terms may have also been breached, such as the common term of not leaving the property vacant for more than 2 weeks without notifying the landlord in writing. (Under the Renters’ Rights Act, breaching a tenancy term falls under Ground 12, which is discretionary and requires court approval).

After your eviction notices have expired, you can apply to court for a possession order of the property. Because the 2026 reforms officially abolished unused statutory abandonment procedures, a court possession order remains the safest, most definitive path to reclaim a property in England without risking an illegal eviction claim.

The second method involves implied surrender, as discussed earlier. If the tenant has vacated the property, stopped paying rent, and you have, for example, regained possession, changed the locks, relet the property, and are no longer seeking rent from the original tenant, then this indicates you both believe the tenancy has ended.

Whether through eviction or implied surrender, you must avoid any appearance of harassment or unlawful eviction of the tenant.

Therefore, before changing locks or reletting the property, you should ensure you have made every reasonable effort to contact the tenant and are fully satisfied that the tenant’s actions don’t align with the continuation of the tenancy.

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How mutual surrender works in Wales

Under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, ending an agreement early does not have to involve rigid notice periods or complex court grounds.

If both you and your contract-holders are on the same page, you can choose to end your standard occupation contract at any point by mutual agreement (Section 153).

Whether a contract-holder needs to move out due to a sudden life change or you both simply want a clean break on a specific calendar day, a mutual surrender gives you maximum flexibility. Here is exactly how to execute a legal mutual surrender safely in Wales.

While the law technically allows a contract to be ended through an “implied surrender” (where the actions of both parties show the agreement is over, such as keys being handed back and accepted), relying on behaviour can be a massive legal gamble.

If a contract-holder later claims they were locked out unlawfully, you could face severe compensation claims for providing an incomplete or incorrect Written Statement.

To protect yourself, a mutual agreement must always be formalised as an express surrender in writing.

You should use a signed and dated document, ideally executed as a Deed of Surrender with independent witnesses.
This document must clearly state the exact date and time the occupation contract will end and definitively outline how final utility bills, rent pro-rata calculations, and deposit returns will be handled.

What happens with joint contract holders?

Managing multiple occupants on a single agreement requires extra care. If your property is let to a group, a mutual surrender of the entire contract requires unanimous consent. Every single joint contract-holder and the landlord must agree to the terms and sign the deed.

If only one person in a shared house wants to leave early, you cannot use a mutual surrender to end the agreement. Instead, that specific individual must serve a formal “withdrawal notice”.

This allows that single person to legally exit the agreement after their notice period expires, while the occupation contract remains active for the remaining joint contract-holders who wish to stay behind.

Beware of “substitute contracts”

One of the most unique quirks of Welsh housing law is what happens if a surrender is agreed upon but the contract-holder fails to pack up. If you sign a mutual surrender setting the move-out date for the 15th of the month, the original contract officially ends on that day only if the contract-holder completely vacates the property.

If the contract-holder changes their mind, refuses to leave, and stays in the dwelling past the agreed date, a brand-new “substitute contract” is automatically created by operation of law.

If you accept rent for this new period or fail to take immediate legal action, you will be trapped in a new agreement, completely resetting your possession timelines and safety notice requirements.