The date on your notice to vacate is not the day to start packing. It is the last day you can still be there. In NSW the tenancy ends when the tenant gives vacant possession, meaning you have moved out and returned the keys. That end date is what the truck has to beat.
Since 19 May 2025, a NSW landlord must give a valid reason to end a tenancy. How many days you get depends on who gave notice, your lease type and the reason. This is Hunters Hill Removals' guide to reading your notice, counting it properly and turning it into a moving day.
How much notice to vacate a rental in NSW?
| Notice from | Reason | Lease | Minimum notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landlord | Proposed sale, significant renovations or repairs, change of use, or the landlord or family moving in | Fixed term of 6 months or less | 60 days |
| Landlord | Proposed sale, significant renovations or repairs, change of use, or the landlord or family moving in | Fixed term of more than 6 months, or periodic | 90 days |
| Landlord | Sale contract signed | All lease types | 30 days |
| Landlord | Breach, non-payment or an occupant remaining | All lease types | 14 days |
| You | Any reason | Periodic | 21 days |
| You | Ending a fixed term at its end | Fixed term | 14 days |
| You | Landlord has breached the agreement or not disclosed required information | All lease types | 14 days |
Find your row. These are minimum notice periods. A notice can give you more time than this.
For a landlord, the common reasons are proposed sale, significant renovations or repairs, change of use, or the landlord or family moving in. For all of these, the notice is 60 days on a fixed term of 6 months or less, and 90 days on a fixed term of more than 6 months or a periodic lease. Once a sale contract is signed, the notice drops to 30 days for all lease types.
If you're the one leaving, it's 21 days to end a periodic lease for any reason, and 14 days to end a fixed term at its end.
How many days notice to vacate in NSW, counted the right way
Four rules decide your date, all from giving notice to end a residential tenancy:
- They are calendar days, so weekends and public holidays count.
- The day the notice is served is not counted.
- If the notice was posted, add 7 working days for delivery, not counting weekends or public holidays.
- The notice doesn't have to line up with your rent cycle.
The posting rule catches people out. In the source's own example, a 14-day notice posted on Friday 1 February is treated as served on Tuesday 12 February, and the notice period runs from Wednesday 13 to Tuesday 26 February. That is 25 days from postbox to last day, not 14.
- Treated as served
- Notice days run
- Last day
Then treat the end date written on your notice as the day the keys go back. We'd rather see you move a day or two before it than on it, so the clean and the final inspection aren't squeezed into the same afternoon as the truck.
If a tenant is still there after the notice date, the landlord can apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal for a termination order rather than removing the tenant themselves. That is a process, not a grace period, so plan to be out.
Notice to vacate due to sale of property in NSW
Sale notices, minimum days
Sale notices come in two kinds, and the difference is 30 to 60 days of your time.
A proposed sale notice gives you the standard 60 or 90 days. An actual sale notice gives you 30, but only when the landlord has a signed contract requiring vacant possession, and gives you a copy or partial copy of the contract, or a solicitor's or conveyancer's statement.
A landlord who ends a tenancy for a proposed sale cannot re-let the property for 6 months after the termination date.
A 30-day notice is the shortest notice a sale can bring. If yours is one, book the removalist in the first week, before you've even found the next place. A moving date can shift. A booked truck on the wrong day is easier to fix than no truck at all.
Working back from a landlord's notice to moving day
- Find the next place
- Book the removalist
- Sort the bond
- Book the final inspection
- Hand back the keys
A 90-day notice counts calendar days, including weekends and public holidays. It sounds generous. It goes quickly once you put the jobs in order, and the order matters more than the speed:
- Find the next place and get its start date as close to your end date as you can.
- Book the removalist once you have both dates, and ask for a clear moving-day window rather than "sometime that week".
- Sort the bond for both properties.
- Book the final inspection at the old place.
- Hand back the keys with the place empty, on or before the end date.
When the date is fixed by law, you can't push it out if the removalist you want is full. That's the case for booking early, and for comparing quotes properly while you still have time. Our guide to comparing removalists, accreditation, insurance and what the quote should say walks through that step.
Leaving before the date on the notice
Periodic lease
Fixed term
Your early exit notice can only be given in the last 60 days of a fixed term of 6 months or less, or the last 90 days of a longer term.
A landlord's notice sets the latest day, not the only day. Tenants who receive one may leave before the termination date. On a periodic lease you owe no rent after you leave. On a fixed term you can give a minimum 14-day early exit notice.
That early exit notice has limits. On a fixed term of 6 months or less it can only be given in the last 60 days of the agreement, and on a longer term only in the last 90 days. The date you hand over must be at least 14 days after the notice, and you can't use it if the landlord is ending for breach or because the property is unusable.
For your move, this is the useful part. If the right new place comes up early, you may not have to pay rent on two homes until the old notice runs out.
Can a landlord still end a lease just because the term is up?
What a landlord's notice must include
No: a landlord can't end a lease simply because a fixed term has finished or the agreement is periodic, and needs a ground for every lease type, including tenancies that started before 19 May 2025. A notice given properly under the old laws before that date is still valid.
The rules apply to leases already in place before the changes started, and longer notice applies when a landlord ends a fixed-term agreement. Some reasons need supporting documents. Heavy penalties apply to landlords or agents who give a notice on a non-genuine ground or hand over false or misleading documents.
A landlord's notice must be in writing, signed and dated, and include the property address, the day the tenancy ends and the ground. A landlord's notice must come with a termination information statement.
The ground has consequences after you leave, too. For significant renovations or repairs the landlord can't re-let for 4 weeks, and for demolition 6 months. A restriction of up to 12 months applies when the property will no longer be used as a rental.
You don't have to take a notice at face value. A tenant can apply to the Tribunal to challenge a notice if the landlord didn't follow the correct process, gave false or misleading documents, or used a ground that isn't genuine. We can't tell you whether yours is valid. Check with NSW Fair Trading on 13 32 20, Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm, or with the Tenants' Union, before you book anything you can't move.
Ending the lease yourself: 21 days, 14 days and break fees
Break fee, in weeks of rent, by share of the fixed term passed
- 4 weeksUnder 25%
- 3 weeks25% to under 50%
- 2 weeks50% to under 75%
- 1 week75% or more
If the move is your idea, your notice is 21 days on a periodic lease, 14 days at the end of a fixed term, and 14 days if the landlord has breached the agreement or not disclosed required information. Tenants can't end a fixed term early except in special cases.
Leaving partway through a fixed term usually costs a break fee. For fixed terms of 3 years or less signed after 23 March 2020, it's 4 weeks' rent if under 25% of the term has passed, 3 weeks at 25% to under 50%, 2 weeks at 50% to under 75%, and 1 week at 75% or more. Every quarter of the term that passes takes a week off.
Some exits carry no penalty. Accepting social housing or moving into aged care allows exit on 14 days' written notice. A tenant on a fixed term of 2 years or more who gets a rent increase notice can leave on 21 days' written notice. In every case you keep paying rent until you hand back possession. If you're leaving because of domestic violence, separate protections apply, and Fair Trading's changes to rental laws page is the place to start.
The trap here is the overlap. Sign a new lease starting next Monday while your 21 days run another fortnight, and you pay rent on both. Line up the new start date with your exit date first, then book the move between them. If a pet is coming with you, from 2 October 2026 you can keep it in the new rental while waiting for the landlord's consent, if you apply within 7 days after entering the tenancy agreement.
Moving out: keys, final inspection and the bond
On the last day
The last day is mostly about handover. Return all keys, and leave the property empty and in similar condition to move-in. The landlord or agent must give you a reasonable opportunity to attend the final inspection, so ask for a time once your truck is booked. Then update your address through Service NSW.
On the bond, one pointer: under Smart Rental Bonds, renters can transfer their existing bond to the next property through Rental Bonds Online instead of finding a second bond while moving. Check whether it suits your timing before you pay a new bond outright.
Your notice periods at a glance
Landlord notices
Your notices
- Calendar days
- Served day not counted
- Posted: add 7 working days
Landlord notices run 60 or 90 days for a proposed sale or other listed reason, 30 days after a signed sale, and 14 days for breach, non-payment or an occupant remaining. Tenant notices run 21 days on a periodic lease and 14 at the end of a fixed term. All of them are calendar days, with the served day not counted and 7 working days added for a posted notice.
Book the move once your end date is fixed
Once you've counted your days, you have two dates that matter: the end date on your notice and the start date of your next lease. Your moving day sits between them.
Bring both to Hunters Hill Removals. Request a callback, tell us the end date on your notice and when your new lease starts, and we'll talk through a moving-day window that leaves room for the clean and the final inspection. If either address is on the peninsula, our notes on where the truck stands and the three bridges are worth a read before the day.
Sources
- https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/fair-trading/news/changes-to-rental-laws
- https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/rules/landlord-ending-a-tenancy
- https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/rules/minimum-notice-periods-for-ending-a-residential-tenancy
- https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/rules/giving-notice-to-end-a-residential-tenancy
- https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/rules/breaking-a-fixed-term-residential-tenancy-early
- https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/renting-a-place-to-live/ending-a-residential-tenancy/moving-out-of-a-rental-home
- https://www.nsw.gov.au/ministerial-releases/all-renters-can-now-use-smart-rental-bonds