Notice for the landlord’s own use is the most common route by which a landlord recovers a flat, and the law hedges it with conditions. The first move is to check the letter: without a named person and a comprehensible reason it is invalid.
Check the letter: without reasons it is invalid
The landlord must name a specific person and a specific need in the letter. General phrases about needing the flat do not satisfy the law.
✓ Verified: 01/08/2026
WHAT TO DO
› Details and tips
👨🏻💻
Max recommends:
Our letter simply said the flat was needed for the family, with no name. That alone changed the tone of the conversation entirely.
👩🏼💼
Lea recommends:
Photograph the envelope with its date and the letter on the day it arrives. The argument about when it was received governs every deadline that follows.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
For whom may a landlord give notice? ▾
The law speaks of the flat being needed for themselves, their family members or members of their household. The group is limited, and the more distant the named person, the more closely courts examine the claimed need.
What must the letter contain? ▾
The law requires the grounds of the legitimate interest to be stated in the notice itself. That means a specific person and a specific reason why this particular flat is needed. Supplying reasons later in court is not possible.
Is an email sufficient? ▾
No. Terminating a tenancy requires written form, and electronic form is excluded. Everyone who is a landlord must sign; where there are several owners, a missing signature is fatal.
What should I do immediately on receiving it? ▾
Do not answer on impulse and agree to nothing verbally. Record the date of receipt, check the form and the reasoning, and only then decide between moving out and objecting. A promise made in conversation is hard to take back.