Lease Renewal Email to a Tenant: 5 Templates From First Notice to Signed

The tenancy at 14 Marsh Lane ends on 31 January. The tenant pays on the first, reports problems early and has never once called at the weekend. Keeping them is worth more than any rent increase, because an empty month and a new letting costs more than a year of a slightly higher rent. Yet the renewal email is usually written in a rush, three weeks before the end date. It reads like a demand. Here are five, in the order they go out, written to keep the tenant you want.

The timeline that avoids an empty month

Renewals go wrong on timing more than on money. A tenant who hears nothing until a month before the end assumes you want them out and starts looking. A tenant who gets a rise with four weeks to decide feels cornered and says no out of principle. Start at 90 days.

Ninety days out you ask one question. Sixty days out you make the offer. Thirty days out you chase, with the date the property goes back on the market. When it is signed, you confirm everything in one email. The days are a guide. Notice periods, the form a rent increase must take and how much it can rise are set by the law where the property is. In some places the tenancy itself sets them too. Check those before email 2.

1. The 90 day heads up

Short and warm. Its only job is to find out whether the tenant wants to stay, before anyone talks about money. A tenant who says yes here is far more likely to accept a reasonable offer in email 2.

2. The offer

Sixty days out. The new rent, the term, the start date and the reason for any change, in that order. If the rent is going up, say why in one sentence with a figure the tenant can check. If it is not going up, say that too. It is the cheapest goodwill you will ever buy.

3. When the tenant wants to negotiate

They have written back: the rise is too much. Or they want a shorter term. Or they will stay if the bathroom is redone. Negotiate on term and conditions before you negotiate on rent. A tenant who gets the longer term they wanted usually accepts the rent. The same goes for the repair they asked for. If you do move on rent, trade it for something: a longer term or a longer notice period.

What this email does not do is drop the rent for nothing. That tells the tenant the first figure was padded and every future renewal gets haggled. Our guide to writing a rent increase letter covers how to set the figure so you are not negotiating from a weak position.

4. The chase at 30 days

The offer went out, there was a reply or there was not. Now it is a month to the end date with nothing signed. This email is calm and it has a date in it: the day the property goes back on the market. That is not a threat. It is the thing you will have to do and the tenant deserves to know when.

5. The confirmation once it is signed

The agreement is signed. Confirm every term in one email so nobody remembers it differently in six months. Our guide to confirming an agreement by email has the five lines behind it.

The three things that make good tenants leave

• A rise with no reason. A figure on its own reads as greed. The same figure with "below the local average" or "first change in two years" reads as fair. Always give the reason.
• A surprise in the last month. A renewal email four weeks before the end date, however polite, tells the tenant they were an afterthought. Start at 90 days.
• Silence between the offer and the deadline. If they go quiet, chase once at 30 days. If you go quiet, they assume the worst and start looking.

If the reply to email 2 is angry rather than a negotiation, our guide to replying to an angry tenant covers what to do. The rest of the property manager inbox, from maintenance to deposits, is in our property management email templates.

Sending the right one for each tenant

A portfolio of 80 units has four or five renewals a month, each with a different tenant, a different landlord and a different history. The templates get you most of the way. The rest is detail: this landlord wants 18 months, that tenant asked about the boiler in March and never got an answer, a third has already said they are moving in the summer. The detail is what makes the email land. It is also what takes the time.

This is where ReciteMail fits. Snip the tenant's reply off your screen and say what you have decided: "Negotiation reply. Offer 18 months at 1,270 held or 12 at 1,290. Hob and extractor still happening. Decide by the 15th." The draft comes back in your own voice with the address, the figures and the dates in place. Read it, paste it into your email, send it. It never connects to your inbox or your property software and nothing sends without you. This 40 second video shows the flow.

Common questions

When should a landlord send a lease renewal email?

Ask whether the tenant wants to stay about 90 days before the end date, send the offer at about 60 days and chase at 30 days if nothing is signed. Local law may set a minimum notice period for rent increases, which can be longer than this. Check it before sending the offer.

What should a lease renewal email include?

The new term, the start date, the rent and the reason for any change, what else stays the same, how to accept and the date the offer stands until. Keep it to a short numbered list. If anything is being repaired or upgraded as part of the renewal, say so in the same email.

How do you tell a tenant the rent is going up without losing them?

Give the reason in one sentence with a figure they can check, such as the local average rise or how long it has been since the last change. Give them at least a month to decide. If they push back, negotiate on the term or on repairs before you negotiate on the figure.

What if the tenant does not reply to the renewal offer?

Chase once, about 30 days before the end date, restating the terms and naming the date you will re-list the property if nothing is signed. Offer to help if something is holding them up. If there is still no reply, phone them. Silence usually means they are weighing a move, not that they have decided.

Is a lease renewal email a legal notice?

Usually not. Rent increases and tenancy renewals often need a specific form, a minimum notice period and in some places a cap on the increase. The emails here are the conversation around the renewal. Check the rules where the property is or take advice before relying on an email alone.

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