Can a landlord end a fixed term lease early in Queensland?

Only for an unremedied breach or with the tenant's written agreement. Sale contract, owner occupation, significant repairs or renovations, demolition or redevelopment and change of use cannot be used to end a fixed term agreement early. For those grounds, and for the end of fixed term ground, the tenancy ends on the agreement's end date or the end of the notice period, whichever is later.

Can a Queensland landlord end a periodic tenancy without a reason?

No. Since 1 October 2022 the owner must have an approved reason to end a tenancy, including a periodic one. The approved reasons are the grounds listed on the Notice to leave (Form 12), such as end of a fixed term, sale requiring vacant possession, owner occupation, significant repairs or renovations, change of use and unremedied breach.

How do you count the notice period on a Form 12 in Queensland?

Do not count the day the notice is given or emailed. The first day of the period is the next day. A month means a calendar month, so 2 months notice given on 20 December ends immediately before midnight on 20 February. If the period ends on a weekend or public holiday it moves to the next business day. The tenant must be allowed until midnight on the last day. If you post the notice, counting starts the day after the letter arrives, so add Australia Post delivery time.

Notice to leave in QLD: the Form 12 notice periods, what counts as a reason, and when the tenant actually has to be out

Q: How much notice does a landlord have to give a tenant to leave in Queensland?

It depends on the ground stated on the Notice to leave (Form 12). Unremedied rent arrears is 7 days. Any other unremedied breach is 14 days. End of a fixed term agreement, sale contract, owner occupation, significant repairs or renovations, demolition or redevelopment and change of use are all 2 months. Ending of employment or housing assistance is 4 weeks. Death of a sole tenant is 14 days. The day you give the notice is not counted, and the tenant has until midnight on the last day.

Written for Queensland owners who manage their own rental. Checked against the Residential Tenancies Authority's Notice to leave page and its fact sheet on allowing time when serving notices on 28 October 2026. Links to the official source are under each section.

The short version. You end a tenancy by giving the tenant a Notice to leave (RTA Form 12) that states 1 of the approved reasons. The reason sets the minimum notice: 7 days for unremedied rent arrears, 14 days for any other unremedied breach, 2 months for the end of a fixed term, a sale, moving in yourself, major renovations, demolition or a change of use. You do not count the day you give the notice, a month means a calendar month, and the tenant has until midnight on the last day. Sale, owner occupation, renovation, demolition and change of use cannot end a fixed term early. Get the period wrong and the tenant can ask for compensation.

The notice period for every reason

These are the minimums from the RTA's Form 12 table for general tenancies (houses, units and townhouses). You can always give more. Reasons marked with a star cannot be used to end a fixed term agreement early: the tenancy ends on the agreement's end date or the end of the notice period, whichever is later.

Unremedied breach, rent arrears: 7 days. The tenant must already have been given a Notice to remedy breach (Form 11) and the remedy date must have passed. See the rent arrears sequence below.
Unremedied breach, anything other than rent: 14 days, again only after a Form 11 has expired.
End of a fixed term agreement: 2 months. Can be given up to 1 day before the term ends, but the tenant still gets the full 2 months, so a notice given on 13 November for a term ending 14 November runs to 13 January.
Sale contract: 2 months*.
Owner occupation (you or a close relative moving in): 2 months*.
Significant repairs or renovations: 2 months*.
Planned demolition or redevelopment: 2 months*.
Change of use of the property: 2 months*.
Property required for a State government program: 2 months*.
Compulsory acquisition: 2 months.
Non-compliance with a QCAT order: 7 days.
Non-livability (the property is destroyed or unfit to live in): the day the notice is given.
Ending of employment where the tenancy came with the job: 4 weeks.
Ending of housing assistance or accommodation assistance: 4 weeks. Ending of an entitlement to student accommodation: 1 month.
Death of a sole tenant: 14 days, or an earlier date the parties agree on.
Serious breach: 7 days, but only for public or community housing providers, not private owners.

Some situations are not Form 12 reasons at all for a general tenancy and need a QCAT order instead: a tenant who fails to leave after saying they would, excessive hardship, damage, injury, objectionable behaviour, incompatibility, repeated breaches and nuisance. If you believe the tenant has abandoned the property, that is a different form (Form 15, abandonment termination notice) with 7 days notice, or a QCAT order.

Source: RTA, Notice to leave (Form 12), version v27 dated 1 May 2025 and RTA, Ending a tenancy: notice

Work out the handover day

Pick the reason, say whether the agreement is fixed term or periodic, then enter how and when the tenant gets the notice. This applies the RTA's counting rules: the day of service is not counted, a month is a calendar month, the tenant gets until midnight on the last day, and a last day on a weekend moves to the next business day. For a fixed term it also applies the later-of-the-2-dates rule.

Reason on the Form 12 Type of agreement

End date written on the fixed term agreement

How you are giving the notice Date the tenant receives the notice

A date helper, not legal advice. It does not know Queensland public holidays, so if the last day lands on one, the end of the period moves to the next business day. Minimum periods only: giving a few extra days costs nothing and protects you if the tenant disputes when they received it.

How the RTA counts the days

Most invalid notices fail on arithmetic, not on the reason. The RTA's fact sheet sets out the rules, and they are not what most people assume.

The day you give the notice does not count. Hand a 7-day notice over on 12 June and day 1 is 13 June. The seventh day is 19 June, so the next action can be taken on 20 June.
The tenant gets the whole last day. Under the Acts Interpretation Act a notice expires at midnight. If the last day of a Form 12 is 18 June the tenant can stay until midnight on 18 June. Nobody wants a key handover at midnight, so agree in writing on a sensible time the next morning instead.
A month is a calendar month. 2 months notice given on 20 December starts counting on 21 December and ends immediately before midnight on 20 February. Given on 30 December, there is no 30 February, so it ends at the end of 28 February and action can start on 1 March.
Weeks run from the first counted day. A 4-week notice handed over on a Monday starts on the Tuesday and its last day is the Monday 4 weeks later.
Weekends and public holidays extend it. If the period ends on a weekend or a public holiday, the end of the period moves to the next business day. That applies to periods counted in hours, days, weeks or months.
Post adds days. If you post the notice, the first counted day is the day after the letter arrives at the property. The RTA tells you to check Australia Post delivery times for your area. For a 7-day notice, post can easily add a week.
Email and text count on arrival, but only if the tenant agreed in the tenancy agreement to receive notices electronically. Check what you ticked on the Form 18a. An email is taken to be received when it reaches the tenant's mail server.

Source: RTA, Allowing time when serving notices

Fixed term versus periodic: the rule that trips owners up

For sale, owner occupation, significant repairs or renovations, demolition or redevelopment, change of use and the end of fixed term reason, the Form 12 cannot cut a fixed term short. The tenancy ends on the agreement's end date or on the last day of the notice period, whichever is later. 2 practical consequences:

If you sell with 5 months left on the lease, a 2-month Form 12 does not get the buyer vacant possession in 2 months. It gets it on the lease end date. Your sale contract needs to reflect that, or you need the tenant's written agreement to leave earlier.
If you want the tenant out when the fixed term ends, give the notice at least 2 months before the end date. Giving it the day before the end date is allowed, but the tenant then gets a full 2 months past the end date.

Only the breach reasons (rent arrears and other unremedied breaches, after a Form 11) can end a fixed term early. Anything else before the end date needs the tenant's agreement in writing or a QCAT order.

Source: RTA, Ending a tenancy: notice

Rent arrears: the sequence before a Form 12

You cannot go straight to a Notice to leave for unpaid rent. The order is:

The tenant must be more than 7 days behind. On day 8 of arrears you can give a Notice to remedy breach (Form 11), which gives them at least 7 days to pay.
If the remedy date passes and the rent is still unpaid, you can give a Notice to leave (Form 12) for unremedied breach with at least 7 days notice.
If they are still there after the handover day, apply to QCAT for a termination order within 14 days of the handover day. Do not change the locks or remove belongings yourself. Only the police can enforce a warrant of possession.

Count each step with the rules above. A Form 11 handed over on a Friday is not "7 days" on the following Friday if it was posted, and a Form 12 given 1 day early is not a valid notice at all. The rent arrears page works out every date in the sequence from the day rent was due.

Source: RTA, Notice to remedy breach (Form 11) and RTA, Notice to leave (Form 12)

Giving the notice

Use the current RTA Form 12 (version v27, dated 1 May 2025). Fill in every field: the address, the reason exactly as the form names it, the date you are giving it, and the handover day. Sign and date it and keep a copy plus a record of how and when you delivered it. If the wrong form or the wrong period is used, the tenant may ask for compensation, and you will be starting the clock again from scratch.

The RTA lists hand delivery, post, text message and email as ways of giving notices. Hand delivery or leaving it at the property is the most certain. Email is fine if the agreement allows electronic notices, and keep the sent item. Post is the slowest and the easiest to dispute, so if you post it, also email it, and count from whichever arrives later.

Once a Form 12 has been given, your entry rights tighten: since 1 May 2025 you cannot enter more than 2 times in any 7-day period while the notice runs, with limited exceptions. The entry notice page explains the cap and the 48-hour rule.

Source: RTA, Ending a tenancy: notice and RTA, Allowing time when serving notices

A simple plan for a self-managing landlord

Decide the reason first and check it is on the Form 12 list. If your real reason is "I want them gone", there is no such reason any more, and a notice dressed up as something else can be challenged.
For a fixed term you want to end on its end date, put a reminder 10 weeks before the end date so the 2-month notice goes out with margin to spare.
Use the calculator above, then write a handover day a few days later than the minimum. Nobody has ever lost a case for giving too much notice.
Deliver by hand or email, never only by post, and photograph or save the proof of delivery with the date.
Agree a daytime key handover in writing so you are not relying on the midnight rule.
Diary the day after the handover day. If the tenant has not left, that is when the 14-day window to apply to QCAT starts.

The handover day is 1 of about 30 dates you are meant to track

Notice periods, rent increase dates, inspection windows, smoke alarm tests, bond lodgement, fixed-term end dates. The free Landlord Minder checklist puts every Queensland date and obligation on 1 page with a link to the official source for each.

Read the free checklist Get reminded before each date

Frequently asked

Does the tenant have to leave on the handover day or by it?
By midnight on the handover day. They can leave earlier if they want to, and you can agree an earlier date in writing, but you cannot require them out before midnight on that day.

Can I give a Form 12 at the start of a fixed term so it expires at the end?
You can give the end of fixed term notice any time up to 1 day before the end date, as long as the tenant gets at least 2 months. Giving it very early does not shorten anything, and remember the 2-entries-in-7-days cap applies for as long as a Form 12 is in play, so a notice given 11 months early is a bad idea for you.

The tenant has not paid rent for a week. Can I give a Notice to leave now?
No. A Form 11 Notice to remedy breach comes first, once they are more than 7 days behind, with at least 7 days to pay. The Form 12 only follows if the remedy date passes unpaid.

What if the last day lands on a public holiday?
The end of the notice period moves to the next business day. The calculator handles weekends but not Queensland public holidays, so check the date it gives you against the Queensland Government's public holiday list.

I posted the notice. When does the period start?
The day after the letter arrives at the property. The RTA does not give a fixed number of postal days; it tells you to check Australia Post delivery times for your area. If the tenant says it arrived later than you think, you will struggle to prove otherwise, which is why hand delivery or email is better.

Do these rules apply to rooming accommodation?
No. Rooming accommodation uses a Form R12 with its own periods. This page covers general tenancies.

This page is general information, not legal advice. It summarises public information from the Residential Tenancies Authority and the Queensland Government. Check the linked official source or get professional advice before you act. Spotted something wrong or out of date? Sign up and reply to the welcome email, and it will be fixed.