Can your landlord end your lease straight away for breaking it?
The Land Act, No. 6 of 2012 · sources read 5 Oct 2026
No. Before a landlord can forfeit (end) a lease because you broke its terms, they must serve you a notice of at least 30 days naming the breach and, if it can be fixed, giving you time to fix it. If you live in the house, the landlord must go to court, and you can ask the court for relief against forfeiture.
- Deadline
- At least 30 days' notice before the landlord can forfeit the lease for a breach.
- Where
- Your landlord first; the Environment and Land Court for relief
Steps
- Read the notice. If you fix the breach within the time given and, where asked, pay reasonable compensation (not needed for unpaid rent), the landlord can't forfeit the lease.
- Once you get the notice, or if the landlord goes to court or tries to re-enter, you can apply to the court for relief. The court decides based on the facts and how both sides behaved, and can set terms.
- Lease disputes under the Land Act are heard by the Environment and Land Court or a lower court the law allows to hear them.
Watch out
- The landlord can take the house back by simply entering only when nobody is living there. Otherwise forfeiture has to go through court.
- If the landlord accepts rent after serving the forfeiture notice, that alone doesn't cancel the notice.
- Relief is not automatic: the court can grant it, refuse it or attach conditions.
Who this covers
- Tenants (lessees) under any lease, registered or not. These rules apply whatever the lease says.
Official sources (1)
- Land Act (Cap. 280, No. 6 of 2012), version of 4 November 2025 new.kenyalaw.org · read 5 Oct 2026