Tenancy Agreement Types in Queensland: Fixed Term vs Periodic — Agent’s Guide
A landlord calls to ask whether they can end their tenancy now that they’ve decided to sell. Your answer depends on one thing before anything else: what type of agreement is currently in place. Get that wrong, and the advice you give — and the notice you serve — could be legally ineffective or expose your client to a complaint.
The Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (Qld) (the RTRA Act) covers two broad categories of tenancy agreements in Queensland: general tenancies, which include houses, units, and caravan parks, and rooming accommodation. Within the general tenancy category — the one most agents manage day to day — there are two foundational agreement types: fixed term and periodic. The distinction between them is not just administrative. It shapes every major decision in property management: how rent can be increased, under what grounds the tenancy can be ended, and who holds the greater degree of flexibility. Understanding these tenancy agreement types in Queensland — fixed term and periodic — is foundational to competent agency practice.
What the RTRA Act Says About Each Agreement Type
Residential tenancy agreements can be fixed term — where the parties agree on a tenancy over a set period — or periodic, which runs on a recurring basis from rent payment day to rent payment day, with no end date specified.
A fixed term agreement is exactly what it sounds like: a contract with a definite start date and a definite end date. The parties have contracted for a specific period. Neither party can unilaterally walk away mid-term without legal consequence, and the agreement does not automatically terminate just because the end date arrives.
A periodic agreement, by contrast, has no set end date and operates on, for example, a fortnight-to-fortnight basis. It continues indefinitely until one of the parties takes lawful steps to end it, or both parties agree to convert it to a fixed term arrangement. The absence of an end date, which sounds like flexibility, carries significant legal implications that shifted dramatically in 2022 — implications that every Queensland agent must understand.
Under the Act, tenancy agreements must be in writing and must clearly include all standard terms, any special terms that comply with the Act, and the lessor’s or agent’s name, address, and phone number. While it is unlawful for a lessor or agent not to put an agreement in writing under section 61 of the RTRA Act, the Act still applies to any agreement not in writing. The practical implication: an undocumented arrangement is not unregulated — it is regulated in the tenant’s favour, since terms the lessor cannot prove become unenforceable.
Fixed Term Agreements: What Agents Need to Know
Structure and Setup
The standard document for a general tenancy in Queensland is Form 18a. This is the form used when renting a house, unit, apartment, or similar property. Item 6 of Form 18a records the end date of the fixed term. Without a valid end date, there is no fixed term — the tenancy defaults to periodic from commencement.
For fixed-term residential tenancy agreements (except moveable dwelling tenancies), a tenant must not be required to pay more than one month’s rent in advance. This is a hard legislative limit, not a market convention. Agents managing new fixed term tenancies should ensure rent-in-advance clauses in any special terms do not exceed this cap.
Minimum Housing Standards now apply to all Queensland rental properties from 1 September 2024. These standards apply to new and renewed agreements from 1 September 2023 and to all other tenancies from 1 September 2024, and the property must meet the standards at the start and throughout the tenancy. This means every fresh fixed term agreement — including a renewal — triggers an obligation to confirm compliance, not just assume it from the previous lease.
Rent Increases During a Fixed Term
For fixed-term residential tenancies, rent may be increased only if the agreement provides for a rent increase and states the amount of the increase or how the increase is to be worked out. This is a critical distinction from periodic tenancies. If Form 18a does not include a valid rent increase clause specifying the mechanism, the rent is locked for the duration of the fixed term. Agents drafting new agreements or renewals with a rent increase at commencement should note that where a new fixed-term agreement is being offered with increased rent at the end of an earlier fixed-term agreement, no separate notice of increase is required — it is an offer of a new agreement, which the tenant is not obliged to accept.
From 1 July 2023, Queensland rental laws limited the frequency of rent increases to once a year for all tenancies. From 6 June 2024, this annual rent increase frequency limit applies to the property, rather than the tenancy. The shift to a property-based limit means that if rent was increased six months ago under a previous tenant, the new tenancy cannot receive another increase for the remaining six months, regardless of the new lease agreement’s start date.
Ending a Fixed Term Agreement: The Form 12 Issue
This is where the post-2022 reforms have created genuine operational complexity for agents. While a fixed term agreement can be renewed at the end of the existing agreement, the agreement does not automatically end on the end date — required notices and timeframes must be taken to end the tenancy lawfully.
From 1 October 2022, the Housing Legislation Amendment Act 2021 (HLAA) removed the option for landlords to end a tenancy by issuing a Notice to Leave (Form 12) on a ‘without grounds’ basis. However, a new ground was simultaneously introduced: the end of the fixed term agreement. One of the new grounds is that the fixed term tenancy is reaching the end of its agreed term, so that will now become an actual ground that an owner can rely on when they give a notice to leave.
The critical compliance point: where parties have formed an agreement on the length of a fixed tenancy, the legislation still requires a Form 12 to be issued by the lessor at least two months prior to the end date of the fixed term tenancy agreement. A Notice to Leave (Form 12) can be given for the end of a fixed term agreement up to one day prior to the end of the tenancy, with a minimum notice period of two months.
The REIQ recommends, as a matter of best practice, that following the introduction of the new legislation, property managers commence issuing notices to leave on grounds of end of fixed term at the commencement of each fixed term tenancy agreement. This is not a mandatory requirement, but the risk of not doing so is significant: in the instance where parties have entered into a fixed term tenancy agreement with an end date, should a Form 12 fail to be issued at least two months prior to that date, the agreement would automatically switch to a periodic agreement, despite any initial agreement on the end date.
Property managers may choose not to issue the Form 12 contemporaneously with the fixed term agreement, however, this may give rise to a risk that the fixed term tenancy may default into a periodic agreement if the notice period is not complied with. If this were to occur, a lessor may involuntarily end up in a periodic agreement with severely limited grounds for termination.
The practical recommendation: when a new fixed term is executed, calendar the Form 12 deadline — two months before the end date — and flag it in your property management system. Do not assume you will remember when a 12-month lease is signed.
Break Leases: The 2024 Cost Cap Reform
When a tenant ends a fixed term agreement early without a lawful ground, break lease costs apply. Under the old framework, a tenant who broke a lease could be liable for “reasonable costs” of reletting — language that was deliberately vague and led to disputes. The 2024 amendments replaced it with a capped reletting cost structure that limits what you can charge based on how far through the fixed term the tenant is.
When a tenant breaks a fixed-term lease on agreements of up to three years, the reletting cost is now calculated based on how much of the lease term has passed. The costs scale from four weeks’ rent where less than 25% of the lease has expired, down to one week’s rent where more than 75% has expired. Importantly, the cost is the lesser of those amounts or the rent due until a new tenant is found and starts an agreement.
Reletting costs are calculated based on how much of a fixed-term tenancy agreement remains. They do not include any outstanding amounts such as unpaid rent in arrears, service charges such as water or gas, or damage to the property. Agents should not conflate break lease costs with other claims — they are calculated and recovered separately.
Since the 30 September 2024 changes to Queensland’s break lease laws, break leases have been increasing. While the legislative change was intended to simplify the process for tenants, it has had a significant side effect — ending a lease early is now far less financially painful for tenants, which is leading to more tenants choosing to exit fixed-term agreements. This is an active management risk agents should be factoring into their landlord communications and portfolio strategies.
Periodic Agreements: What Agents Need to Know
How a Periodic Agreement Arises
Periodic tenancies arise in two ways. A tenancy can be structured as periodic from the outset — useful where a landlord or tenant genuinely needs maximum flexibility. More commonly, a periodic tenancy arises because a fixed term agreement was not renewed and no Form 12 was served in time.
If parties do not extend or sign a new fixed term agreement, and the tenant continues to rent the property, a periodic agreement automatically comes into place. The periodic agreement continues under the same terms that applied to the fixed term agreement, except for the end date, which is not specified in a periodic agreement.
For periodic tenancies that arise at the end of a fixed-term agreement, all terms and conditions of the fixed-term agreement still apply except for the start and end date. This means any special terms from the fixed term lease — pet conditions, lawn maintenance obligations, approved inclusions — carry over automatically. Agents should confirm with their landlord clients that any rolled-over special terms remain acceptable before allowing a fixed term to lapse.
Rent in Advance and Rent Increases
For periodic residential tenancy agreements, the limit on rent in advance is two weeks. This is notably less than the one month permitted on fixed term agreements. Agents transitioning a managed property from fixed term to periodic should ensure rent account ledgers reflect the correct advance limit.
Under a periodic agreement, rent may be increased by the property manager or owner giving the tenant two months’ written notice of the increase for general tenancies. However, rent cannot be increased unless it has been at least 12 months since the current amount of rent became payable for the premises. The property-based 12-month limit introduced in June 2024 applies equally here: the 12-month clock runs from when rent last increased at the property, not when the periodic agreement commenced.
Ending a Periodic Agreement: The Post-2022 Landscape
This is the most consequential practical difference between fixed term and periodic agreements for Queensland property managers operating today.
From 1 October 2022, a lessor is no longer able to end a periodic agreement by issuing a Form 12 Notice to Leave without grounds. This means that landlords in Queensland are more likely to end up with long-term residential tenants if they let their fixed term residential tenancies turn into periodic tenancies.
Property owners have lost the right to end a periodic tenancy by providing notice alone. Tenants, however, retain this right. Unless owners can establish limited prescribed grounds — such as the sale of the property — they will never be able to terminate a periodic tenancy.
The REIQ CEO’s observation at the time of reform was blunt: this reform will almost certainly result in the demise of periodic tenancies in Queensland, and will detrimentally impact tenants who are seeking maximum flexibility and would prefer not to commit to a fixed term tenancy.
Some of the grounds landlords can still use to end a periodic tenancy include the requirement to undertake significant repairs or renovations, a sale or preparation for sale of the rental property, or a change of use. Tenants, however, can still end a tenancy without grounds. Alternatively, parties can also mutually agree in writing to end a tenancy agreement early or without grounds.
The asymmetry is fundamental: a tenant on a periodic agreement can leave on two weeks’ notice for any reason; a landlord must establish a prescribed ground. Agents advising investor clients need to communicate this plainly when a tenancy rolls over without renewal.
Converting a Periodic Agreement Back to Fixed Term
At any time, the tenant and property manager or owner can agree to end the periodic agreement and begin a new fixed term agreement. Agents managing portfolios with properties on periodic agreements should have a proactive process for approaching tenants about renewal — not only to provide lessor security, but because new fixed term agreements trigger fresh Minimum Housing Standards compliance checks, updated contact details, and the opportunity to correct any outdated special terms.
If there are any new terms or significant changes in the proposed new agreement, such as a rent increase, the property manager or owner should communicate these with the tenant. Tenants can negotiate the terms of the proposed new agreement before they sign it.
Comparing Fixed Term and Periodic: The Key Differences at a Glance
For agents managing portfolios or advising investor clients, the following distinctions are operationally significant:
Rent in advance: Fixed term allows up to one month; periodic is limited to two weeks.
Rent increases: Fixed term requires an increase mechanism to be specified in the agreement itself; periodic requires two months’ written notice and the property-based 12-month interval.
Ending the tenancy by the lessor: Fixed term can be ended on the ground of end of agreement, with a Form 12 served at least two months before the end date; periodic can only be ended on prescribed grounds, with no general “without cause” option for lessors.
Ending the tenancy by the tenant: Both types allow tenant-initiated termination without grounds — 14 days’ notice at the end of a fixed term, or two weeks’ notice during a periodic.
Break lease costs: Break lease costs apply only when a tenant ends a fixed term agreement early. There is no equivalent concept for periodic agreements — the tenant simply gives notice.
Roll-over: A fixed term that is not renewed automatically becomes periodic, carrying over all terms except the end date.
The Practical Realities Agents Face Today
The post-2022 and post-2024 reform landscape has materially shifted how agents should be managing agreement types on behalf of landlord clients.
The elimination of no-grounds termination for periodic agreements makes it genuinely risky to allow a fixed term to lapse without renewal. The changes remove a landlord’s right to terminate a periodic residential tenancy by notice without grounds, which means landlords in Queensland are more likely to end up with long-term residential tenants if they let their fixed term residential tenancies turn into periodic tenancies. For investor clients who may want to sell or renovate, this is not a theoretical concern — it is a live operational constraint.
At the same time, the 2024 break lease cap means fixed term agreements are no longer as strong a deterrent to early departure as they once were. Ending a lease early is now far less financially painful for tenants, which is leading to more tenants choosing to exit fixed-term agreements. For property investors, this shift means higher exposure to reletting events and additional costs that cannot always be recovered.
The lesson is not that one agreement type is universally better than the other. It is that agents need to be actively guiding landlord clients through the choice at the start of each tenancy — and managing the renewal calendar carefully so the decision remains deliberate rather than accidental.
Agents who are managing properties for interstate investors or overseas buyers — increasingly common in Southeast Queensland’s market — should be especially explicit about these dynamics. The no-grounds periodic termination restriction, the Form 12 timing obligations, and the property-based rent increase limit are all features that are either absent or materially different in other Australian states.
What This Means for Queensland Agents
Manage the Form 12 calendar proactively. Issuing a Notice to Leave on the ground of end of fixed term at the commencement of a new agreement — as recommended by the REIQ — is not punitive or aggressive. It is risk management. If the Form 12 is not served at least two months before the end date and the tenancy rolls over, the lessor is on a periodic agreement with severely restricted termination rights.
Never let a periodic agreement accumulate by accident. When a fixed term expires without action, the tenancy does not end — it becomes periodic. A managed portfolio should have automated alerts for end-of-term dates. Allowing periodic agreements to accumulate unintentionally is one of the most avoidable sources of landlord-agent disputes in Queensland property management.
Communicate the break lease cap change clearly to new landlords. For fixed term agreements signed on or after 30 September 2024, the capped reletting cost structure applies and landlords can no longer require tenants to continue paying rent until a replacement tenant is found. This changes the risk profile of fixed term agreements from a landlord’s perspective and should be part of any landlord onboarding conversation.
Advise investor clients on the asymmetry of periodic tenancies. A tenant on a periodic agreement has the right to leave on two weeks’ notice for any reason. A landlord cannot. For investors with short- to medium-term strategies — whether that involves selling, renovating, or repositioning a property — maintaining an active fixed term agreement is almost always preferable to allowing a periodic roll-over.
Know the rent increase rules precisely. The shift to a property-based 12-month limit from June 2024 means the rent increase clock does not reset when a new tenancy commences. Agents need to be tracking when rent was last increased at the property level, not just the tenancy level, and advising landlords accordingly to avoid inadvertent breaches.
The RTRA Act governs all of this, and it has been amended significantly in the past three years. Agents who are still operating on pre-2022 knowledge of how Queensland tenancy agreements work are carrying compliance risk on behalf of their clients. Understanding precisely how fixed term and periodic agreements differ — not in general terms, but in the specific operational details that determine lawful notice, valid rent increases, and enforceable termination — is the baseline competency for any Queensland property manager.