Minimum duration of a residential lease, by country
Spain, Norway and Japan write a floor into the statute: five years (seven if the landlord is a company) in Spain, three years in Norway, one year in Japan, and a shorter term does not hold: Spain extends it year by year, Norway and Japan treat it as open-ended. Germany sets no floor but lets a landlord fix a term only for three listed reasons. Austria regulates renewals of fixed-term flat leases rather than the first term, and the Netherlands and Sweden state no minimum in the quoted text at all.
| Country | Minimum term | What the statute does with a fixed term |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | Renewals of a fixed-term flat lease: 5 years (3 if the landlord is not a business) | Tenant may end a fixed-term flat lease after 1 year with 3 months' notice |
| Germany | A fixed term is allowed only for a stated reason; otherwise the lease is open-ended | |
| Spain | 5 years (7 if the landlord is a legal entity) | A shorter term is extended by a year at a time until the minimum is reached, unless the tenant gives 30 days' notice |
| Japan | 1 year | A term under 1 year counts as a lease with no fixed term |
| Netherlands | A fixed-term home lease does not end when the term runs out; it ends only by notice, effective no earlier than the end of the term | |
| Norway | 3 years (1 year for a loft or basement flat, or a flat in a two-family house, where the landlord lives in the same house) | A shorter fixed term is treated as open-ended |
| Sweden | A fixed term is allowed; once the tenancy has lasted more than 9 months it must still be ended by notice |
Country by country
Austria
- Rule
- Mietrechtsgesetz § 29
- The ingested text of § 29 states the minimum for renewals of a fixed-term lease, not for the first term: the list of cases in § 29(1) is missing from the stored text, so no first-term figure is given here.
- The tenant's right to give notice after one year cannot be waived or restricted, according to the quoted sentence.
- Applies to leases covered by the Mietrechtsgesetz; the Act excludes some premises from its scope.
bei Wohnungen um mindestens fünf Jahre oder, sofern der Vermieter kein Unternehmer im Sinn des Konsumentenschutzgesetzes ist, um mindestens drei Jahre – erneuert werdenhat der Mieter nach Ablauf eines Jahres der ursprünglich vereinbarten oder verlängerten Dauer des Mietverhältnisses das unverzichtbare und unbeschränkbare Recht, den Mietvertrag vor Ablauf der bedungenen Zeit jeweils zum Monatsletzten gerichtlich oder schriftlich unter Einhaltung einer dreimonatigen Kündigungsfrist zu kündigen. Germany
- Rule
- BGB § 575
- The statute states no minimum number of months or years.
- The reasons are the landlord's own use (or a relative's or household member's), a planned demolition or major works, or letting to a person who owes service to the landlord; the third reason also requires written notice of the reason at signing.
- An agreement that is worse for the tenant than this section is void (§ 575(4)).
Ein Mietverhältnis kann auf bestimmte Zeit eingegangen werden, wenn der Vermieter nach Ablauf der MietzeitAnderenfalls gilt das Mietverhältnis als auf unbestimmte Zeit abgeschlossen. Spain
- Rule
- Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos, art. 9 and art. 9 bis
- Covers the lease of a home used as the tenant's permanent residence (vivienda habitual). Temporary housing leases follow art. 9 bis instead: more than 31 days and, as a general rule, not more than 12 months.
- The tenant can stop the yearly extensions by telling the landlord at least 30 days before the contract or an extension ends.
- The stored text of art. 10 announces an amendment from 15 November 2026 (Real Decreto-ley 28/2026); this guide quotes only the text in force on the date of the stored copy.
Si esta fuera inferior a cinco años, o inferior a siete años si el arrendador fuese persona jurídica, llegado el día del vencimiento del contrato, este se prorrogará obligatoriamente por plazos anuales hasta que el arrendamiento alcance una duración mínima de cinco años, o de siete años si el arrendador fuese persona jurídica debiendo ser superior a treinta y un días, y no exceder como regla general de doce meses Japan
- Rule
- 借地借家法 第二十九条
- Applies to leases of buildings.
- A fixed-term lease with no renewal, made in writing and with the prior written explanation under Article 38, is not subject to this one-year rule.
期間を一年未満とする建物の賃貸借は、期間の定めがない建物の賃貸借とみなす。 この場合には、第二十九条第一項の規定を適用しない。 Netherlands
- Rule
- Burgerlijk Wetboek Boek 7, art. 271
- The quoted text states no minimum length.
- Exception: for a lease of two years or less to certain categories of people named by decree, the term does end by itself, if the landlord writes to the tenant between three months and one month before it ends.
- The stored text of art. 271 carries a note that amendments without a commencement date exist.
In afwijking van artikel 228 lid 1 eindigt een voor bepaalde tijd aangegane huur niet door het enkele verloop van de huurtijdniet vallend voor het verstrijken van de bepaalde tijdLid 1 is niet van toepassing op een voor bepaalde tijd voor de duur van twee jaar of korter aangegane huur ingeval van een woonruimte Norway
- Rule
- Husleieloven § 9-3
- The minimum does not apply if the landlord or a household member will use the home, or the landlord has another objective reason for the time limit. The landlord can rely on either exception only if the tenant was told the reason in writing at signing at the latest.
- Covers fixed-term leases of homes.
Det er ikke adgang til å inngå tidsbestemt leieavtale for bolig for kortere tid enn tre år.Minstetiden kan likevel settes til ett år hvis avtalen gjelder lofts- eller sokkelbolig i enebolig eller bolig i tomannsbolig, og utleieren bor i samme hus.Er tidsbestemt leieavtale for bolig inngått i strid med bestemmelsene i denne paragrafen, skal avtalen anses som tidsubestemt. Sweden
- Rule
- Jordabalken 12 kap. 3 §
- The quoted text states no minimum length.
- The contract may provide otherwise for a shorter tenancy; the nine-month rule applies to tenancies that have lasted more than nine months in a row.
Hyresavtal kan även ingås för bestämd tid.Har hyresförhållandet varat mer än nio månader i följd, skall dock avtalet alltid sägas upp för att upphöra att gälla. Countries not in this table yet
Canada (the Ontario Residential Tenancies Act), the United Kingdom (the Housing Act 2004 is ingested, but not the tenancy-term statutes) and the United States (federal law has no tenancy-term rules) are left out because the ingested statutes do not state a lease minimum. Australia and France have no tenancy statute ingested.
How this table was built
Every row is taken from the official, consolidated text of the statute, which LawAsked loads from each government’s legislation service.
Each figure is tied to a passage quoted word for word from that text. When the page is served, it checks that every quoted passage is still in the current text of a law that is in force; if a law is amended and its wording changes, that row is hidden until a person reviews it again.
The table shows the statutory minimum only. Collective agreements, awards and individual contracts often give more than the statute, and some countries let a collective agreement set different terms.
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LawAsked, “Minimum duration of a residential lease, by country”, https://lawasked.com/guides/minimum-lease-duration (reviewed October 25, 2026).
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