Does a lease have to be in writing, by country
In none of these six countries is a verbal lease void by the statute, but the price of skipping paper differs. Norway, Sweden and Spain let either party (or the tenant in Spain) demand a written contract, Germany turns a lease of more than a year that is not written into an open-ended one, Ontario suspends rent until the landlord supplies the paperwork, and Japan makes writing a condition only for the fixed-term lease without renewal.
Scope of this guide
Canada: the Canada Labour Code (federal sector) and the Ontario statutes that LawAsked has loaded. Other provinces are not compared.
| Country | Writing required? | If it is not in writing |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | No: the Act deals with both written and unwritten agreements | The landlord must give written notice of its name and address within 21 days; until then the tenant need not pay rent |
| Germany | Yes for a lease longer than one year | The lease is treated as indefinite; notice can be given at the earliest after one year from handover of the home |
| Spain | No, but the tenant may demand a written contract | A verbal contract stays valid and effective |
| Japan | Only for a fixed-term building lease that is to have no renewal | Without a writing, the term excluding renewal cannot be agreed |
| Norway | No: oral or written | An oral agreement must be put in writing if either party demands it |
| Sweden | No, but either landlord or tenant may demand a written lease |
Country by country
Canada
- Rule
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 s. 12
- Applies to agreements entered into on or after 17 June 1998. A written agreement must be copied to the tenant, signed, within 21 days of signing. Prescribed classes of tenancy must use a prescribed form (s. 12.1).
If a tenancy agreement entered into on or after June 17, 1998 is not in writing, the landlord shall, within 21 days after the tenancy begins, give to the tenant written notice of the legal name and address of the landlordthe tenant’s obligation to pay rent is suspended Germany
- Rule
- BGB § 550
- The section is in the part on housing leases and sets the effect of a missing written form; it does not make a shorter verbal lease invalid.
Wird der Mietvertrag für längere Zeit als ein Jahr nicht in schriftlicher Form geschlossen, so gilt er für unbestimmte Zeit.Die Kündigung ist jedoch frühestens zum Ablauf eines Jahres nach Überlassung des Wohnraums zulässig. Spain
- Rule
- Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos art. 37
- Either party may compel the other to put the contract in writing; at the tenant's request writing becomes compulsory. The landlord may face administrative responsibility under sector rules.
Las partes podrán compelerse recíprocamente a la formalización por escrito del contrato de arrendamiento.A instancia de la parte arrendataria, será obligatoria la formalización por escrito del contrato de arrendamiento.no afectará en ningún caso a la validez y eficacia del contrato verbalmente celebrado Japan
- Rule
- 借地借家法 第三十八条
- The text states a writing requirement only for this type of lease (定期建物賃貸借). It does not say what form an ordinary lease must take. An electronic record counts as writing (paragraph 2).
公正証書による等書面によって契約をするときに限り契約の更新がないこととする旨を定めることができる Norway
- Rule
- Husleieloven § 1-4
- Applies to rental of housing under the Act.
Avtale om leie av husrom kan gjøres skriftlig eller muntlig.Er avtalen muntlig, skal den settes opp skriftlig dersom en av partene krever det. Sweden
- Rule
- Jordabalk 12 kap. 2 §
- The section does not state what happens to a lease that is not written, so no effect is shown.
Hyresavtal skall upprättas skriftligen, om hyresvärden eller hyresgästen begär det. Countries not in this table yet
The United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Austria are not shown because the ingested tenancy statutes state no rule on the form of a lease (the Austrian text found only covers written renewal of fixed-term leases). The United States, 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.
Use this data
The table and the CSV are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: credit LawAsked and link to this page. Quoted statute text stays under the terms of its official source.
How to cite this page
LawAsked, “Does a lease have to be in writing, by country”, https://lawasked.com/guides/written-lease-required (reviewed October 25, 2026).
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