UK leases · Break notices · Free tool
UK lease break notice calculator: latest date by your count.
A UK lease break clause often says the notice must be served “not less than six months before” the break date. Enter the break date and the months, and this page counts back whole calendar months and shows each step. It is arithmetic only, and the date is only one requirement of a break notice. The lease’s own wording, its service provisions and any conditions to the break control. This is not legal advice.
Work out the date
Enter the break date and the notice period in months to see the latest date by this count.
Arithmetic on what you typed. Your lease's notice and service clauses decide the real deadline; if unsure, serve earlier, but never before the first date the lease allows notice.
Nothing you type into this calculator is sent. Everything you enter stays in your browser: the calculation runs on this page, and the dates and numbers are not sent to us or stored. The page records the visit (which page it was and when, a random visitor id in a first-party cookie, the site or campaign you came from, whether you arrived through an ad click, and a mark saying whether the visit looked automated or came from our own team), where on the page you were when the visit began, whether you are still on the page after about five seconds and how far down you have scrolled by then, and any click on a button that leads to uploading a document ("Read my own lease", "Add a contract" in the header, or the bar at the foot of a phone screen), with which button it was (see Privacy). Nothing you type into this calculator is included. These records do not include your IP address or the name of your browser. The upload form at the foot of the page is separate. It records the kind of file you choose and a size band, never its name or contents, and that an account was made from it or an upload was started, finished or stopped (with which step and a short reason). The file and any email address you put in it are sent only when you submit it.
How the months are counted
The count goes back whole calendar months from the break date, the way a spreadsheet’s EDATE counts them: the same day of the month, that many months earlier. Where that month does not have the day, the last day of that month is used. The table shows the three cases for six months of notice.
Worked examples
Examples, not leases: six months of notice from three break dates. Each row is this calculator's own output.
| Case | Break date | Latest date by this count | Month rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| The day exists in the earlier month | Thursday 24 June 2027 | Thursday 24 December 2026 | Same day of the month |
| The earlier month is too short (February) | Tuesday 31 August 2027 | Sunday 28 February 2027 | Last day of the month used |
| The earlier month is a leap February | Thursday 31 August 2028 | Tuesday 29 February 2028 | Last day of the month used |
Where the last day of a shorter month is used, the calculator says so beside the result. Whether your lease counts a month this way is for its wording to say.
How strictly a break clause is read
In English law, break clauses and their conditions are often applied strictly, so a notice can fail on another requirement even when the date is right. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules. The date is one requirement among several: the clause may also say who must give the notice, in what form, to what place and by what method, and what conditions go with it. Work out the date here, then read the clause for everything else, and take advice from a solicitor when the break matters.
Read these in the lease before you rely on the date
The wording of the notice period
Whether it says "not less than six months", "six months’ prior written notice" or something else, and whether it says the notice must expire on the break date. The lease’s words decide how the months are counted.
Who can break, and when
Whether the break is the tenant’s, the landlord’s or either party’s, and whether it can be used only on a stated date or after a stated time.
How the notice must be served
In writing, on whom, at which address, by which method, signed by whom. The lease’s service provisions say when a notice counts as served, and where it is silent, the law on service does. That may not be the day it is sent.
Conditions to the break
Vacant possession, rent and other sums paid up to a stated date, no continuing breach, a premium paid with the notice. A break can fail on a condition even when the notice is on time.
What the lease says about time
Treat the last day as final. Do not assume a late notice will be accepted because the lease does not say time is of the essence. Whether a late notice can be rescued depends on the lease and the law where the property is.
Any change by a deed of variation
A later deed can change the break date, the notice period or the conditions. Check every document that varies the lease.
What it will not do
This calculator does not know your lease. It counts back the months you type from the break date you type, and nothing else. It does not decide how your lease counts a month, when a notice counts as served, or whether the conditions to the break are met, it has no bank holiday calendar, and it does not move a date that falls on a weekend. It is not legal advice; ask a solicitor when the break matters.
Questions
How do I work out the latest date by my count to serve a break notice?
Take the break date and count back the months of notice on the calendar. Six months before 24 June 2027 is 24 December 2026. That is the arithmetic. Whether it is the right date for your lease depends on the lease’s own wording and service provisions, which control.
What if the break date is the 31st and the earlier month is shorter?
This calculator uses the last day of the earlier month, which is what a spreadsheet’s EDATE does. Six months before 31 August 2027 is 28 February 2027, because February has no 31st, and before 31 August 2028 it is 29 February 2028. It tells you when it has done this. If your lease or your advisers count it differently, theirs controls.
Does it allow for a notice being treated as served later than it is posted?
No. It assumes nothing about when a notice counts as served. Your lease’s service provisions say that, and where it is silent, the law on service does. The box for days to allow for service lets you leave room for your own method: whatever number you type is subtracted from the latest date to give a send-by date.
What if the date falls on a weekend or a bank holiday?
The calculator tells you when a date is a Saturday or a Sunday and does not move it. It has no bank holiday calendar. Whether a weekend or a bank holiday changes the date by which a notice must be served is for the lease’s service provisions to say, and where it is silent, the law on service.
Does it tell me whether my break is valid?
No. It works out one date. A break clause also has conditions and requirements about who gives the notice, how, and to whom. Read the clause, and take advice from a solicitor before you rely on it.
What if my lease counts the period another way?
This calculator counts back whole calendar months from the break date. If your lease counts differently, for example by a period that must be "clear", ask a solicitor. You can use the service box to leave extra days, but the lease controls.
Is anything I type sent to you or saved?
No. Nothing you type into this calculator is sent to us or stored: the calculation runs in your browser, on this page, and there is nothing to sign up for. The page does record the visit (which page it was and when, a random visitor id in a first-party cookie, the site or campaign you came from, whether you arrived through an ad click, and a mark saying whether the visit looked automated or came from our own team), where on the page you were when the visit began, whether you are still on the page after about five seconds and how far down you have scrolled by then, and any click on a button that leads to uploading a document ("Read my own lease", "Add a contract" in the header, or the bar at the foot of a phone screen), with which button it was (see the Privacy page). Nothing you type into this calculator is included. These records do not include your IP address or the name of your browser. The upload form at the foot of the page is separate. It records the kind of file you choose and a size band, never its name or contents, and that an account was made from it or an upload was started, finished or stopped (with which step and a short reason). The file and any email address you put in it are sent only when you submit it.
Is this legal advice?
No. It is arithmetic on the numbers you type, and the date is only one requirement of a break notice. Before you rely on a date, read the clause in your lease that sets it and, for a lease that matters, ask a solicitor.
Read more
The guide to UK lease break clauses and rent reviews shows how break dates and review dates are read from a lease. If you are working out an option to renew rather than a break, the lease notice date calculator counts days, weeks and months back from any date.
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Try Prism on your own lease.
Prism reads a lease and lists the notice windows, options and rent steps it finds, each with the clause it came from, where one was captured. It can miss a date, so check the list against your lease. How often it finds them is on the accuracy page.
Read my own lease