What happens if my tenant doesn't accept or sign the renewal?

A renewal isn't in force until your tenant has accepted it and everyone has signed. Until then your current agreement carries on as normal, and you have a few options depending on how far along it is.

Your tenant hasn't accepted yet

The renewal shows as Sent on your Tenancy Agreement List with a Renewal badge, and there's a Cancel button next to it.

• If your tenant wants a change to the terms, click Cancel. The renewal goes back to a draft you can open, edit and send again. This is the same as cancelling any tenancy agreement before acceptance. See How do I change lease terms before the lease is finalised?.
• If your tenant has simply gone quiet, a reminder from you usually does the trick. They accept from their tenant portal.

Your tenant has accepted but signing hasn't finished

Once accepted, the agreement is generated and sent for signatures, and the button changes to Withdraw. Withdrawing sets the renewal to Pending Withdrawal and shortly after to Withdrawn. A withdrawn agreement can't be edited or resent; you remove it and start a fresh renewal from the Renew button on your current agreement. Everything is pre-filled again, so it only takes a minute.

The current lease ends before the renewal is finalised

Legally the tenancy rolls into a periodic one on the existing terms, and PropertyNow does the same automatically. When the fixed term ends with no signed renewal in place, the tenancy switches to periodic, rent keeps being collected on the same schedule and at the same amount, and you and your tenant each get an email confirming the change. If your tenant pays by PayTo they'll need to set up a new PayTo agreement, because the old one ends with the fixed term; their email tells them to do this. The renewal stays pending until it's accepted and signed, and then takes effect from the start date you chose. See What happens when a fixed-term lease ends without a renewal?.

If the renewal included a rent increase, the higher rent only applies from the new agreement's start date, so the sooner it's signed the sooner it kicks in.

Your tenant doesn't want to renew at all

If they decline, or tell you they're moving out, cancel or withdraw the renewal so it doesn't sit on your dashboard, then handle the end of the tenancy as usual. If you'd like help preparing notices for your state, get in touch.

For the renewal process from the start, see How do I renew a tenancy or update the agreement?.

Updated on: 11/09/2026