Landlord's Own Use (N12)

An N12 ends a tenancy not for anything the tenant did, but because the unit is needed as a home — by the landlord, the landlord's spouse, child or parent, a caregiver, or a purchaser who has agreed to buy the property and intends to live in it. The Act treats this carefully: the intention must be genuine, the notice period is at least 60 days ending on the last day of a rental period, and the tenant is entitled to one month's rent as compensation (or another acceptable unit).

If the Board accepts that the intention is genuine and the requirements are met, it can terminate the tenancy. The intended occupant must move in within a reasonable time and live there for at least one year. If the unit is instead re-rented or sold shortly after, the former tenant can bring a bad-faith application (T5) for substantial penalties, so the good-faith requirement is enforced after the fact, not just at the hearing.

• Confirming the N12 ground genuinely applies to your situation
• Calculating the notice period and the required compensation
• Preparing the declaration of good-faith intention to occupy
• Filing the L2 and presenting the purchaser or family evidence
• Representing you at the hearing
• Advising on the one-year occupancy rule to avoid a later bad-faith claim

Serve the N12 with at least 60 days' notice and pay the required one month's compensation before the termination date. File the L2 application. At the hearing the Board examines whether the intention is genuine — increasingly, an affidavit or declaration from the intended occupant is expected. If granted, the tenancy ends and the occupant must move in and stay for the required period.

An N12 file moves at the pace of the notice period plus the Board's hearing queue — commonly four to six months end to end. Because good faith is now scrutinized closely, the strength of the occupant's evidence affects the outcome as much as the timeline.