End a sublet contract: notice periods and formal rules

The question sounds simple: how long is the notice on my sublet contract? The answer rests on one thing many miss: what kind of home is let. Renting a rental apartment second hand means the Tenancy Act applies. Renting a tenant-owner apartment or a house from an owner means the Private Rental Act applies instead, and there the notice period is quite different.

Here we cover both cases, how the notice counts from the turn of the month, what the notice must hold and what applies when the contract runs for a fixed term. The rules on permits and rent levels sit in a separate guide.

Second hand rental apartment: three months

Renting a rental apartment second hand means the Tenancy Act in chapter 12 of the Land Code rules, not the Private Rental Act. That act expressly excludes lettings of rental apartments. For an open ended contract the notice period is three months, and it binds both sides: when you as tenant give notice and when the landlord does.

A contract may hold a shorter notice than that, but only in the favour of the tenant. If your contract states one month notice, that binds you as tenant. If it instead states six months while the law gives you three, that part of the contract has no effect. You can still rely on the legal three months.

Tenant-owner apartment or house: one month for you as tenant

Renting a tenant-owner apartment, a house or an ownership flat from an owner instead means the Private Rental Act applies. It is deliberately one sided: you as tenant hold one month notice, while the landlord holds three months. The idea is that a landlord letting their own home should regain it within reasonable time, while the tenant should not sit locked into a long commitment in a home with no security of tenure.

As under the Tenancy Act, the parties may agree terms that favour the tenant, but not worse ones. A clause giving you as tenant three months notice in a let tenant-owner apartment does not bind you.

If the landlord lets more than one home the picture complicates: the Private Rental Act is written for letting your own home, and for larger scale letting the Tenancy Act may apply instead. Unsure which law rules your contract, the rent tribunal is the right body to ask.

The turn of the month rule: why it almost always runs longer

Notice counts not from the day you give it, but from the next turn of the month. Give notice on a rental apartment contract on 10 March and the three months run from 1 April, ending 30 June. In practice you pay rent for almost four months, not three.

That is why it nearly always pays to give notice late in a month rather than early in the next. The gap between 30 March and 2 April is a full month rent, for the same decision.

What the notice should look like

Always put the notice in writing. Spoken notices can be valid, but they are near impossible to prove after the fact, and the side giving notice must show when it happened. Past three months of tenancy, written form is required when the landlord gives notice.

The notice needs to state which home it covers, that the contract ends, the date you write it and your signature. Send it so you can prove it arrived: a recorded letter or an email where you ask for written confirmation. Keep the confirmation with the contract.

Also agree in writing on the practical side: when keys pass over, how the deposit is repaid and when any move out inspection happens. Most disputes between first hand and second hand tenants start in that part, not in the notice itself.

Fixed term contracts

Many sublet contracts run for a fixed term, one year for example. Such a contract usually ends when the term ends with no notice needed. But past three months of tenancy it must still be ended by notice to stop applying. Left alone it may roll on.

To leave a fixed term contract early you hold no automatic right, unless the contract holds a notice clause. Many contracts do. If yours lacks one, negotiation with the landlord is the way forward, ideally paired with helping to find a replacement.

If you cannot agree

The rent tribunal hears subletting disputes, and turning there costs nothing. Go there if the landlord demands longer notice than the law allows, if the deposit is not repaid or if you were ended in a way you see as invalid.

If you paid more than a fair rent you can claim the difference back. But apply within three months after the tenancy ended, so run the numbers on the rent level once the notice is sent, not long after.

Next home

Once you ended your sublet contract you hold a clear deadline and one big plus: you know exactly when you must be elsewhere. At SökHem you describe what you want instead of tracking listings, and get matched when something fitting appears. You can also browse available rentals directly, or set a home alert that contacts you when the right home arrives.

Legal basis

For a second hand rental apartment, chapter 12 of the Land Code, the Tenancy Act, applies: section 3 on tenancy periods and fixed term contracts, section 4 on three months notice for homes let open ended, and section 8 on written notice once the tenancy passed three months. For tenant-owner apartments, houses and ownership flats the Private Rental Act applies, giving the tenant one month and the landlord three months notice. Contract terms worse for the tenant than the law carry no effect under chapter 12 section 1 fifth paragraph of the Land Code and the matching rule in the Private Rental Act. The Private Rental Act changed on 1 July 2026; check the current wording on riksdagen.se. The rent tribunal hears disputes.