renters' rights act notice period (as a tenant)

[IucyB]

Hello!
I will need to move soon (I'm renting) and would like to clarify what exactly happens with giving notice now that the renters' rights act is in force. In my tenancy agreement it says I have to give a month, then the new two months notice rule is stipulated in the renters' rights act which came in this year. I would prefer to give one month's notice not two. Does the two month rule apply regardless of the notice period given in the tenancy agreement, or can I still rely on the tenancy agreement and ask for a month's notice?
I know there's an option to negotiate a shorter period with the landlord (should be interesting as mine are hard to contact).

Might be best to call Shelter or the CAB for clarification. The RRA is still very new, and there is a lot of general confusion about some aspects.

It's two months now. You can ask if your landlord will agree to less notice by mutual agreement, but they can say no.

thank you both I will try CAB today. There does seem to be some confusion around the situation.

Hi @lucyB I would just speak to your landlord if they're reasonable.

If your pre May lease says one month you can still give one months notice, and remember it must align with your rent date. This is another imbalance from the new rules; it allows tenants to give whatever their lease says in terms of notice, but landlords must now give four months notice, no matter what was written in the lease.
Even if your lease said two months notice, you can always try to negotiate a shorter period with your landlord. They might be amenable and mutual agreement is perfectly fine within the new (or old) rules.

Just had some contact with the LLs who are abroad. Unfortunately the new rules seem to overrule the tenancy agreement - my (December 2025) lease says one month but the landlords are saying it's now two months for me, due to the Act.

Yes that’s correct it’s two months notice now. Blame labour.

The LL could allow 1 month if they wanted to. Im a LL and recently agreed a month's notice with tenant. She has been a very good tenant but split from her partner. She's also given me name of 2 of her friends who want to rent the house and have checked out financially so I'll save on advertising fees at EA so I'm very happy to allow a month notice.

I'm surprised they don't want to release me early. The property is spotless, garden well kept.
So disappointing. They have many other properties so perhaps not seeing the human side.

This is not correct. Your tenancy automatically converted to a periodic tenancy under the new Act. The statutory notice period of two months now applies.

Your old one-month clause is overridden unless your landlord agrees in writing to a shorter period.