The N11: agreeing to end a tenancy

What makes the N11 different

Every other N-form is a notice, something one side serves on the other, with minimum notice periods and grounds to prove. The N11 is an agreement. Because both parties consent, the termination date can be any date you both choose, tomorrow or six months out, and no reason is needed.

When it's the right tool

• The tenant wants out early. Instead of an assignment or sublet fight, both sides sign an N11 with an agreed move-out date.
• You've made a deal. A negotiated move-out, sometimes with compensation ("cash for keys"), is documented with an N11 so it's enforceable.
• Avoiding a contested hearing. Settling a dispute with a signed N11 is faster and more certain than months at the Board.

The rules that keep it valid

• It must be truly voluntary. A tenant can refuse to sign, and pressuring one into it can get the agreement set aside and land you in trouble.
• It can't be a condition of renting. An N11 signed at the start of the tenancy as part of the deal is void; you can't make tenants pre-agree to leave.
• Get it in writing, keep a copy. Both signatures, the address, and the termination date. A verbal "they said they'd leave" is not an N11.

If the tenant doesn't move out

A signed N11 doesn't end the tenancy by itself if the tenant stays. You can apply to the Board with an L3 application (no hearing needed in most cases), but it must be filed within 30 days of the termination date in the agreement. Miss that window and the N11 goes stale; you'd have to start over.

N11 vs the other ways a tenancy ends

• Tenant leaving on their own? That's the N9 (tenant's notice), not the N11.
• You need the unit for yourself or family? That's the N12, with its own notice and compensation rules.
• Unpaid rent? That's the N4.