The Renters’ Rights Act is a piece of legislation designed to reform the rental sector. The Act has received Royal Ascent and became law as of 27/10/2025. However, before the measures take effect the UK Government must introduce detailed regulations to set out how each part of the legislation will work in practice.
Full implementation will begin phasing in from 1st May 2026.
What’s changing?
Section 21 (no fault) evictions will be abolished. This means that Landlords can no longer give notice to tenants without a valid reason. Landlords can still regain possession via a Section 8 notice with a valid ‘ground for possession.’ These grounds include reasons such as selling the property, occupation by a family member, repeated rent arrears or anti social behaviour.
Rent increases will be limited to once per year and will require Landlords to give at least 2 months’ notice of the increase with a Section 13 notice. Tenants can challenge rent increases via the First tier tribunal
A simplified system for tenancies will be introduced, replacing all assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) and fixed term tenancies with a new ‘Assured Periodic Tenancy’. Tenancies will therefore roll on month to month with tenants having the right to give 2 months’ notice to leave in line with the rental date.
Tenants will have the right to request to keep a pet at the property. The request must be in writing and the Landlord will have 28 days to respond in writing. Any refusals must give a valid reason, such as freeholder permission required and not granted, property is not suitable or allergies to pets.
Landlords will no longer be able to accept offers over the advertised rental price to prevent bidding. They will also not be able to request any more than 1 months’ rent in advance.
Future changes
There are some additional changes which will come in to force in late 2026 and beyond. These include:
Landlords must register themselves and their properties on a national database. This will allow councils to access greater information and aims to support enforcement against non-compliant Landlords. It will become an offence to market properties which are not registered on the database and agents will need to check this before commencing marketing.
All private landlords will be required to join a new ombudsman service, providing a free, impartial, and binding dispute resolution service for tenants without going to court. This is expected to be mandatory by 2028.
The Decent Homes Standard (ensuring homes are safe, well-maintained, and free from serious hazards) will be extended to the private rented sector, and "Awaab's Law" will introduce strict timeframes for landlords to address hazards like damp and mould.
