Free notice to vacate template
A free notice to vacate template for Kenya. Which rules apply depends on the tenancy. For a controlled tenancy — a shop, hotel or catering establishment — section 4 of the Landlord and Tenant (Shops, Hotels and Catering Establishments) Act requires notice in the prescribed form, giving at least two months, stating the grounds, and asking the tenant to reply within one month; the tenant may refer it to the Tribunal, which stops it taking effect. For rent-restricted residential premises, section 15 of the Rent Restriction Act requires writing and not less than one month ending at the end of a tenancy month.
What you still need to do
- Decide what kind of tenancy this is before you send anything. A controlled tenancy — shop, hotel or catering establishment — can only be ended under the Landlord and Tenant (Shops, Hotels and Catering Establishments) Act. A letter that ignores section 4(1) does not end it.
- For a controlled tenancy, use the PRESCRIBED FORM. This template carries the particulars that form requires; it is not a substitute for the form.
- Give the full period — at least two months for a controlled tenancy under section 4(4), at least one month ending at the end of a tenancy month for rent-restricted premises under section 15 of the Rent Restriction Act, or longer if the tenancy itself says so.
- State the grounds in full, and ask the tenant to reply within one month — section 4(5) requires both, and you are held to the grounds you stated.
- Serve it a way section 4(6) allows, and keep the postal receipt or signed acknowledgement. The period runs from receipt.
- Never lock a tenant out, remove a door or cut off water or power in place of a notice. Possession is recovered through the Tribunal or the court, not by self-help.
Why each clause is here
Every clause in this document is drawn from the provision named beside it, and the wording of each provision was read in the Act itself. Where the law fixes something a document cannot change, this is where it says so.
🔴 Section 4(1) of the Landlord and Tenant (Shops, Hotels and Catering Establishments) Act is emphatic: notwithstanding any other written law or anything in the terms of the tenancy, a controlled tenancy shall not terminate or be terminated otherwise than in accordance with that Act. A letter that ignores it does not end the tenancy — it simply has no effect, and the landlord usually discovers that at the Tribunal, months later. Section 15 of the Rent Restriction Act sets the other floor: a notice to quit must be in writing and, where no other period is specified in that Act, not less than one month ending at the end of a tenancy month.
Section 4(2) of the Landlord and Tenant (Shops, Hotels and Catering Establishments) Act requires a landlord who wishes to terminate a controlled tenancy — or to alter any term, condition, right or service to the tenant’s detriment — to give notice to the tenant in the PRESCRIBED FORM. 🔴 "Prescribed form" means the statutory form, not a letter on headed paper. This template carries the particulars that form needs; it does not replace the form itself.
Section 4(4) of the Landlord and Tenant (Shops, Hotels and Catering Establishments) Act: no tenancy notice takes effect until a date, not less than TWO MONTHS after the receiving party receives it, which must be specified in the notice. Its provisos add two things — the date of termination cannot be earlier than the earliest date the tenancy could otherwise have ended, and where the tenancy provides a notice period longer than two months, that longer period applies instead. Section 15 of the Rent Restriction Act is the parallel rule for rent-restricted premises: in writing, not less than one month, ending at the end of a tenancy month. 🔴 The clock runs from RECEIPT, not from posting.
Section 4(5) of the Act requires the notice to specify the grounds on which the requesting party seeks the termination, and to require the receiving party to say in writing, within one month of receipt, whether they agree to comply. Both halves are mandatory. The grounds a landlord may rely on are listed in section 7(1); 7(1)(b) is the common one — default in paying rent for two months after it became due, or persistent delay in paying rent. 🔴 You are held to the grounds stated in the notice, so state them fully and accurately the first time.
Section 6(1) of the Act: a receiving party who has told the requesting party under section 4(5) that they do not agree may, before the notice takes effect, refer the matter to a Tribunal — whereupon the notice is of no effect until, and subject to, the Tribunal’s determination. 🔴 Including this is in the landlord’s interest as much as the tenant’s: a notice that conceals the tenant’s right to refer invites an argument about its validity on top of the one you already have.
Section 4(6) of the Act lists how a tenancy notice may be given: personally; to an adult member of the tenant’s family; to any other servant residing within or employed in the premises; to the tenant’s employer; or by prepaid registered post to the last known address. The notice is deemed given on the date of delivery, or on the date of the postal receipt given by the person receiving the letter from the postal authorities. 🔴 That is why the receipt matters — it is the evidence of the date everything else counts from.
The provisions, in the Act’s own words
Spacing is normalised for reading. Every word is the Act’s.
Notwithstanding the provisions of any other written law or anything contained in the terms and conditions of a controlled tenancy, no such tenancy shall terminate or be terminated, and no term or condition in, or right or service enjoyed by the tenant of, any such tenancy shall be altered, otherwise than in accordance with the following provisions of this Act.
Where notice to quit is required to be given in respect of premises it shall be in writing, and where the required period of notice is not elsewhere specified in this Act it shall be not less than one month’s notice ending at the end of a tenancy month: Provided that the tribunal shall construe notices to quit liberally and without undue regard to technicalities.
A landlord who wishes to terminate a controlled tenancy, or to alter, to the detriment of the tenant, any term or condition in, or right or service enjoyed by the tenant under, such a tenancy, shall give notice in that behalf to the tenant in the prescribed form.
No tenancy notice shall take effect until such date, not being less than two months after the receipt thereof by the receiving party, as shall be specified therein
specifies the grounds upon which the requesting party seeks the termination, alteration or reassessment concerned and requires the receiving party to notify the requesting party in writing, within one month after the date of receipt of the notice, whether or not he agrees to comply with the notice.
that the tenant has defaulted in paying rent for a period of two months after such rent has become due or payable or has persistently delayed in paying rent which has become due or payable;
A receiving party who wishes to oppose a tenancy notice, and who has notified the requesting party under section 4(5) of this Act that he does not agree to comply with the tenancy notice, may, before the date upon which such notice is to take effect, refer the matter to a Tribunal, whereupon such notice shall be of no effect until, and subject to, the determination of the reference by the Tribunal
A tenancy notice may be given to the receiving party by delivering it to him personally, or to an adult member of his family, or to any other servant residing within or employed in the premises concerned, or to his employer, or by sending it by prepaid registered post to his last known address