Residential Tenancies Act 1987 WA: A Landlord's Guide to Key Sections

Every residential tenancy in Western Australia — written or unwritten, managed by an agent or self-managed — sits under the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (WA). If you are a landlord trying to end a tenancy, three sections of the RTA matter more than anything else: Section 63, Section 64, and Section 70A. Getting the wrong one will get your notice dismissed at the Magistrates Court.

Section 64 — No-Grounds Termination of a Periodic Tenancy

Section 64 allows a landlord to end a periodic tenancy without giving a reason. The prescribed form is Form 1C, and the minimum notice period is 60 days. The tenant does not need to have done anything wrong — the notice alone is enough.

This is the most-used termination ground in WA. It applies when you want the property back for any reason and the lease has already rolled past its fixed term (or was periodic from the start). As of October 2026, no-grounds termination remains lawful despite announced Phase 2 reform proposals.

One critical limitation: Section 64 only works on periodic tenancies. It cannot be used to end a fixed-term agreement before the contractual end date.

The retaliatory termination protection under the RTA also applies here. If the tenant has recently exercised a statutory right — requested urgent repairs, lodged a complaint with Consumer Protection, or applied to the court — and the magistrate determines your notice was retaliatory, the notice can be voided.

Section 63 — Sale Requiring Vacant Possession

Section 63 lets you terminate a periodic tenancy with 30 days' notice on Form 1C when you have an executed contract of sale that explicitly requires vacant possession at settlement. The shorter notice period (30 days instead of 60) exists because the sale contract already commits you to a settlement date.

Two restrictions make Section 63 narrower than it looks:

1. It only applies to periodic tenancies. A contract of sale does not override a fixed-term lease — the buyer inherits the tenancy and steps into your shoes as landlord.
2. The sale contract must contain an explicit vacant possession clause. A contract that is silent on vacant possession does not trigger Section 63.

Issuing a false or misleading Section 63 notice (for example, claiming a sale when there is no executed contract) is an offence carrying a $10,000 penalty.

Section 70A — Fixed-Term Expiry

Section 70A is how you prevent a fixed-term lease from automatically converting into a periodic tenancy when it reaches its end date. You serve a Form 1C giving at least 30 days' notice, with the vacate date on or after the contractual end date.

If you do not serve this notice, the lease does not end on its expiry date. It rolls over into a periodic tenancy by operation of law, preserving all existing terms — except that you now need 60 days' notice under Section 64 instead of 30 days under Section 70A. This is the single most common mistake landlords make with fixed-term leases in WA.

After serving a Section 70A notice, if the tenant does not vacate, you must file a court application within 30 days of the vacate date. Miss that filing window and the notice lapses entirely.

Sections 61 and 62 — Rent Arrears and Breach

Sections 61 and 62 handle breach-based terminations. For rent arrears, there are two routes:

• Two-stage (Form 21 → Form 1A): Issue a Form 21 breach notice giving 14 days to pay. If the rent remains unpaid, serve Form 1A giving 7 days to vacate.
• Direct (Form 1B): Skip the breach notice and serve Form 1B directly, giving 7 days. The court may refuse to make a termination order and allow the tenancy to continue if the tenant pays the full arrears and court application fees before or on the day before the hearing.

For non-rent breaches, the route is two-stage: Form 20 (14 days to fix) followed by Form 1C (7 days to vacate).

How the Sections Work Together

The section you cite on your Form 1C (or 1A or 1B) determines the notice period, the preconditions, and the court filing deadline. Cite the wrong section — or serve notice under Section 63 when you should be using Section 64 — and the notice is invalid. The Magistrates Court has no power to fix a defective notice; the application is dismissed and you start over.

The Ending a Tenancy in Western Australia guide walks through every section, every form, and every date-counting rule in a single workflow so you match your situation to the right statutory path.

See more Western Australia guides →