Can one of the joint tenants can end a tenancy by serving a notice of termination?

Short answer…..

During a fixed term = no

During a periodic (statutory or contractual) tenancy = yes

A key principle of joint tenancies is that all of the tenants are collectively ‘the tenant’. This means that they are generally dealt with as a group rather than individually.  If one tenant serves a notice of termination it affects all the tenants.

Local Authorities sometimes use this principle as a way to get a tenant out of a council house. For example after a tenant leaves a violent partner the departing tenant will serve a notice of termination which will end the tenancy, allowing the Local authority to evict the remaining tenant. In the private sector this has limitations as all tenants are responsible for the rent until the tenancy has ended and the landlord has vacant possession of the property.

So if T1 wants to leave they can serve a notice of termination which will end the tenancy.

The departing tenant (T1) should ensure the notice they serve complies for any terms in their contract, statute or common law and they clear all their belongings from the property and return the keys to the landlord. However if T2 stays on, both T1 and T2 remain liable for rent as the landlord does not have vacant possession of the property.

For the landlord, doing nothing is not an option so he needs to decide to either grant a new tenancy to T2 or evict T2. If the landlord prefers the former option they need to consider whether T2 is willing to take a new tenancy alone and assess whether they can afford the rent.

Have you had problems with a joint tenant ending a tenancy? Have you been a joint tenant and had a problem leaving?