WA Periodic Tenancy vs Fixed Term: Differences That Affect Ending a Lease

Whether your tenancy in Western Australia is fixed-term or periodic changes everything about how you can end it — the grounds available to you, the notice period, and the statutory section you cite on the form. Getting the classification wrong is the first domino in a chain that leads to a dismissed court application.

Fixed-Term: a Set End Date

A fixed-term tenancy runs from a specific start date to a specific end date written in the agreement. The tenant has a right to occupy the property for the full term. A landlord can end it early only if a statutory ground applies (such as breach or the premises being unsafe or uninhabitable), a court orders termination, or all parties agree in writing.

There is no general early-termination right for landlords on a fixed-term lease. You cannot use Section 64 (no-grounds) or Section 63 (sale) to break a fixed-term agreement before its end date. If you sell the property during a fixed term, the buyer inherits the tenancy.

Your main termination tool is Section 70A: 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 before the end date arrives, the tenancy does not end — it rolls over into a periodic tenancy automatically. That rollover happens by operation of law, preserving all existing terms except that you now need 60 days' notice instead of 30.

Periodic: No End Date, Rolling Week to Week or Month to Month

A periodic tenancy has no fixed end date. It continues from period to period (usually week to week or month to month) until one party serves notice. Periodic tenancies arise in two ways: the agreement was periodic from the start, or a fixed-term lease rolled over because neither party served notice before expiry.

As a landlord, you have more termination options on a periodic tenancy:

• Section 64 — no-grounds termination, 60 days' notice
• Section 63 — sale requiring vacant possession, 30 days' notice (periodic only, and only when the executed contract of sale explicitly requires vacant possession)
• Breach routes — Form 21 → Form 1A for rent arrears, or Form 20 → Form 1C for non-rent breaches; the same routes apply to fixed-term tenancies

The Critical Differences

The Rollover Trap

The most common planning failure for WA landlords is missing the Section 70A window. If your fixed-term lease ends on 30 June and you do not serve a Form 1C by 31 May (30 days before), the lease silently converts to periodic on 1 July. Your next option is Section 64 with 60 days' notice — adding two months to a process that could have been done in one.

If you are not sure whether your tenancy is still fixed-term or has already rolled over, check the agreement and your records. A fixed-term that has passed its end date without a notice from either party is already periodic.

Which Type Determines Your Next Step

Before you download a form or calculate a notice period, confirm your tenancy type. Everything else follows from that classification. The Ending a Tenancy in Western Australia guide starts with this decision and maps it to the exact statutory section, form, and notice period for your situation.

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