What happens if a fixed-term lease simply runs out and nobody does anything?

Section 14(2)(d) of the Consumer Protection Act says that on the expiry date of a fixed term the agreement continues on a month-to-month basis, subject to any material changes the supplier has notified, unless the consumer expressly directs that the agreement must terminate or agrees to a further fixed term.

In practice this means an expired lease that nobody attended to is not a vacant property — it is an ongoing month-to-month tenancy, usually at the old rent, that either side can end on a month's notice. For an agency this is a slow leak rather than a sudden loss: the escalation that should have applied on renewal never takes effect, and the portfolio quietly drifts onto month-to-month terms.

It also removes the certainty the landlord was paying for. A month-to-month tenancy can end at short notice, which makes the property harder to plan around and harder to value.

Re-Lease treats a lease as at risk once its renewal milestones start falling into the past without the corresponding step being completed, so that a lease drifting toward silent month-to-month conversion is visible on the dashboard rather than discovered afterwards.

Disclaimer: This is general information about South African lease-renewal procedure, not legal advice. Dates are calculated from the information you provide and from published public holidays. Check them against your lease and take your own legal advice before acting.