Renting law has a habit of changing just after everyone has finally got to grips with the old rules. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 is no modest adjustment: It has rewritten much of the legal framework governing private tenancies in England.
For tenants, the reforms offer greater security and more control over when they leave their home. For landlords, they bring clearer possession grounds but also more paperwork, tighter procedures and potentially serious penalties for getting things wrong.
Both perspectives matter. A rented property may be somebody’s investment, but it is also somebody else’s home. In my years of legal practice, I learned that disputes become particularly difficult when those two perfectly legitimate viewpoints are treated as though only one of them counts.
This guide explains what changed on 1 May 2026, what has happened to existing tenancies, how eviction and rent increases now work, and which parts of the Act have yet to take effect.
Last reviewed: 3 August 2026.
Quick answer: What changed on 1 May 2026?
From 1 May 2026, section 21 “no-fault” eviction was abolished for private assured tenancies in England. Most existing assured shorthold tenancies automatically became assured periodic tenancies, and landlords can no longer create fixed-term assured tenancies with an effective end date.
Landlords must now rely on a valid statutory ground if they want possession. Rent increases are generally limited to once a year using the formal section 13 process, rental bidding is prohibited, advance rent is restricted, and landlords must consider written requests to keep pets reasonably. Discrimination against prospective tenants because they have children or receive benefits is also prohibited.
The Act did not, however, come fully into force on 1 May 2026. The private rented sector database, landlord ombudsman, Decent Homes Standard and extension of Awaab’s Law are being introduced separately.
Contents
- What is the Renters’ Rights Act 2025?
- Which changes are now in force?
- How has section 21 eviction changed?
- What are assured periodic tenancies?
- How can landlords increase the rent?
- What are the new rules when renting a property?
- Can tenants keep pets?
- What information must landlords provide?
- What happened to old eviction notices?
- How are student tenancies affected?
- Which reforms have not yet taken effect?
- Who is covered by the Act?
- What should landlords and tenants do now?
- Frequently asked questions
What is the Renters’ Rights Act 2025?
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. It makes the most extensive changes to private renting in England for many years.
Its central reform is the replacement of assured shorthold tenancies with a system of open-ended assured periodic tenancies. The old arrangement allowed many landlords to recover possession without establishing that the tenant had done anything wrong. Under the new system, a landlord needs a legally recognised reason for possession.
That does not mean a landlord can never recover their property. The Act preserves and expands grounds covering circumstances such as selling, moving into the property, serious rent arrears, anti-social behaviour and breaches of the tenancy. What has disappeared is the ability to end an assured tenancy simply because a fixed term has expired or by serving a section 21 notice without giving a statutory reason.
The reforms apply principally to private renting in England. They should not be confused with the different tenancy regime operating in Wales.
Which Renters’ Rights Act changes are now in force?
The government divided implementation into phases. This distinction is important because some widely discussed parts of the Act are not yet operating.
| Date or phase | Main reforms |
|---|---|
| From 1 May 2026 | Section 21 abolished; assured periodic tenancies introduced; possession grounds revised; annual rent-increase procedure introduced; rental bidding and excessive advance rent prohibited; new protections concerning pets, children and benefit claimants; stronger enforcement and rent repayment orders. |
| From late 2026 onwards | Regional introduction of the private rented sector database, followed by wider registration and public access. The landlord ombudsman will follow later and is currently expected to become mandatory in 2028. |
| Later phase | A Decent Homes Standard for private rented properties and the extension of Awaab’s Law. Final commencement dates have not yet been confirmed. |
The government’s implementation roadmap for the Renters’ Rights Act should be checked as the later stages approach.
Section 21 has ended: What replaces no-fault eviction?
Since 1 May 2026, a private landlord cannot serve a new section 21 notice in relation to an assured tenancy. A clause in an old tenancy agreement saying that the landlord may use section 21 does not preserve that right.
A landlord who wants possession must normally serve the prescribed form of section 8 notice, identify one or more statutory grounds and give the required notice. If the tenant does not leave, the landlord must apply to the court for a possession order.
The notice itself does not usually end the tenancy. Nor does it give the landlord the right to change the locks, remove the tenant’s belongings or pressure the tenant into leaving. The court process remains necessary unless the tenant leaves voluntarily or the parties agree to end the tenancy.
This is a point worth pausing over. An official-looking notice can be alarming, particularly when someone has children, limited savings or nowhere obvious to go. But receiving a notice and being lawfully evicted are not the same thing. Dates, forms, grounds and evidence all matter.
Selling the property or moving in
Landlords may seek possession because they genuinely intend to sell the property or because they, or a qualifying close family member, intend to occupy it as their only or main home.
These grounds are subject to a protected period. A possession notice relying on the selling or moving-in ground cannot expire during the first 12 months of the tenancy. The normal notice period is four months, although a landlord may serve the notice earlier if its expiry falls after the protected period.
There are also restrictions on remarketing or reletting the property after these grounds have been relied upon. Subject to statutory exceptions, the restricted period lasts for 12 months. This is intended to deter landlords from claiming that they need to sell or move in merely to remove a tenant.
Rent arrears, anti-social behaviour and tenancy breaches
Landlords may still seek possession where a tenant has substantial rent arrears, repeatedly pays late, damages the property, behaves anti-socially or breaches another term of the tenancy.
Different grounds have different thresholds and notice periods. Some grounds are mandatory if proved, while others allow the court to decide whether making a possession order is reasonable. A landlord should not assume that every breach automatically justifies eviction, and a tenant should not assume that the end of section 21 protects them from the consequences of serious arrears or misconduct.
The government has published detailed guidance on the grounds for possession.
The new tenancy system: Assured periodic tenancies
Most assured shorthold tenancies automatically became assured periodic tenancies on 1 May 2026. This happened by law; the landlord and tenant did not need to sign a replacement agreement.
An assured periodic tenancy rolls from one rent period to the next, normally weekly or monthly. It has no effective fixed end date. If an existing agreement still refers to a six-month or 12-month fixed term, that wording no longer enables the landlord to recover possession simply because the date has arrived.
Other valid terms of the agreement can continue. The change does not wipe the contract clean or release either party from obligations concerning rent, repairs, access, nuisance or the care of the property. Terms that are inconsistent with the new legislation are overridden by the statutory rules.
Anyone renting informally should also read my guide explaining what happens if there is no written tenancy agreement.
How can a tenant end the tenancy?
A tenant can normally end an assured periodic tenancy by giving up to two months’ written notice. The notice should end on the day the rent is due or the day immediately before it is due. The tenancy agreement may provide for a shorter notice period, and the landlord and tenant may agree in writing to end the tenancy sooner.
The tenant remains responsible for rent during the notice period unless an earlier surrender is agreed.
In a joint tenancy, notice given by one joint tenant can usually end the tenancy for everybody. That can come as an unpleasant surprise to the other tenants, so a joint tenant contemplating notice should discuss the consequences before taking action.
Long occupation does not create ownership rights or a special “10-year rule”. The security now enjoyed by most tenants comes from the statutory tenancy framework rather than the number of years spent in the property. My separate guide considers whether long-term tenants have additional rights.
Rent increases: Once a year, using form 4A
The Act does not impose a general rent freeze or percentage cap. A landlord can still propose an increase to the open-market rent, but must follow the statutory procedure.
For an assured periodic tenancy, rent cannot normally be increased during the first year. After that, increases are limited to once in any 12-month period. The landlord must use form 4A and give at least two months’ notice of the proposed increase.
The statutory section 13 procedure must be followed each time. An old rent-review clause cannot be used as an alternative route around the new process.
In practical terms, a conversation before the form arrives is often sensible. A tenant may accept that an increase is justified but need time to adjust their finances; a landlord may prefer a manageable agreement to an avoidable tribunal application. Clear communication will not replace the statutory form, but it may prevent the form becoming the opening shot in a dispute.
Can a tenant challenge a rent increase?
A tenant who believes the proposed rent exceeds the open-market rent can apply to the First-tier Tribunal. The application should be made before the proposed increase takes effect.
The tribunal considers what the property could reasonably command on the open market on the same terms. The rent it determines cannot exceed the amount proposed by the landlord. This removes the old fear that challenging an increase might result in the tribunal imposing an even higher rent.
The tribunal may also defer the effective date where immediate payment would cause undue hardship. It will not, however, reduce the rent simply because the tenant cannot afford the market rate.
Official guidance explains the new rules for increasing rent.
Renting a property: Bidding, advance rent and discrimination
Rental bidding is prohibited
A landlord or letting agent advertising a property in writing must state an asking rent. They must not invite, encourage or accept an offer above that figure.
This applies even where the prospective tenant offers more without being asked. A landlord cannot advertise at £1,200 a month, receive an unsolicited offer of £1,300 and accept it. Nor can an agent tell applicants that somebody else has offered more in the hope of prompting a bidding contest.
The rule does not prevent a landlord from choosing between applicants using lawful criteria. It prevents competition based on offers above the published rent.
Rent in advance is restricted
Before the tenancy agreement has been signed, the landlord or agent must not ask for, encourage or accept rent in advance.
Once the agreement is signed but before the tenancy begins, the landlord can usually require no more than one month’s rent where rent is paid monthly, or 28 days’ rent for shorter rent periods. There are limited statutory exceptions, including some accommodation arranged in connection with homelessness duties, supported housing and social housing.
The rules on holding deposits and tenancy deposits remain separate. A holding deposit can normally be up to one week’s rent. The usual tenancy-deposit cap remains five weeks’ rent where the annual rent is below £50,000 and six weeks where it is £50,000 or more.
Discrimination against families and benefit claimants
Landlords and agents must not make someone less likely to obtain a tenancy because they have children or receive benefits. That includes discriminatory wording in advertisements, withholding information, preventing a viewing or refusing the tenancy for that reason.
This protection operates alongside the Equality Act 2010. Landlords can still carry out affordability checks, obtain references and choose between applicants, provided the criteria are applied lawfully and the decision is not based on children or benefit status.
In other words, the Act does not require a landlord to accept every applicant. It requires the applicant to be considered as an individual rather than rejected by a blanket “no children” or “no benefits” rule.
Pets in rented homes: A right to ask, not an automatic right
A tenant now has a statutory right to ask for permission to keep a pet. The request must be made in writing and should describe the animal.
The landlord must normally respond in writing within 28 days and must not refuse unreasonably. If further information is reasonably required, the landlord can ask for it. Once the tenant provides that information, the response period is extended by the remainder of the original 28 days or a further seven days, whichever is later.
Government guidance suggests that refusal may be reasonable where, for example, another occupier has an allergy, the property is unsuitable for the size or number of animals, the animal is unlawful to keep, or a superior lease prohibits pets. A general dislike of animals or a bad experience with a previous tenant’s pet will not usually be enough.
A clause saying “no pets” cannot remove the tenant’s statutory right to make a request. It does not, however, mean that a tenant should simply bring an animal into the property without asking. Keeping an unauthorised pet may still breach the tenancy.
Importantly, the final Act does not generally allow a landlord to require the tenant to purchase pet-damage insurance or to pay a separate pet deposit above the usual statutory cap. Those proposals appeared during the Bill’s passage but were not included in the enacted legislation.
Proven pet damage may still be claimed from the ordinary tenancy deposit. A landlord or tenant may also have a relevant insurance policy, but the landlord cannot recover twice for the same loss.
The current government guidance on requests to keep a pet gives examples of reasonable and unreasonable refusals.
Written information landlords must provide
The paperwork requirements are not glamorous, but paperwork is often where a legally sound position is won or lost. I have seen many disputes in which everyone remembers the conversation differently and the outcome ultimately turns on one email, one form or one missing date.
For a tenancy created after 1 May 2026, the landlord must provide prescribed written information about its main terms before the agreement is signed or, where the agreement is oral, before it is made. This can be incorporated into a written tenancy agreement.
Where an existing tenancy began before 1 May 2026 and already had a written agreement, the landlord did not normally need to replace it. Instead, the landlord or agent was required to give every named tenant the government’s Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026 by 31 May 2026.
Where an existing tenancy was oral, the landlord was required to provide a written statement of the key terms by the same date.
A landlord who missed the deadline should provide the information without further delay and keep evidence of delivery. Failure to comply can result in a financial penalty of up to £7,000.
What happened to section 21 and section 8 notices served before 1 May 2026?
There was a short transitional period for valid section 21 notices and section 8 notices served under the old law before 1 May 2026.
That transitional period has now ended. The last date on which a landlord could ask the court to issue a possession claim relying on one of those old notices was 31 July 2026, or an earlier date if the notice’s own statutory time limit had already expired.
Proceedings issued on or before 31 July 2026 can continue until they are concluded. But a landlord who did not start proceedings in time cannot now revive the old notice. If possession is still required, the process must normally begin again using a ground and notice available under the post-1 May 2026 system.
This is an area in which using an old template found online can cause real trouble. A notice that looks familiar may no longer be legally appropriate.
Student tenancies and ground 4A
The end of fixed-term assured tenancies created a particular difficulty for landlords who let shared houses to successive groups of students each academic year. Ground 4A was introduced to address that problem.
The ground can apply to certain houses in multiple occupation let on a joint tenancy to full-time students. It does not apply automatically to every student letting, and purpose-built student accommodation may fall outside the assured tenancy regime altogether.
For a new tenancy, the landlord must generally give the required prior written notice that ground 4A may be used. The possession notice must normally give at least four months and require possession between 1 June and 30 September.
A temporary arrangement applied during summer 2026. Certain landlords of existing student tenancies could serve a two-month ground 4A notice between 1 May and 30 July 2026 if the required prior notification had been given by 31 May. That special window has now closed.
Student landlords should check the detailed conditions carefully rather than assuming that the end of the academic year is itself sufficient to recover possession.
Which parts of the Renters’ Rights Act have not yet taken effect?
The private rented sector database
The government plans to begin a regional rollout of the private rented sector database from late 2026. Landlords will eventually be required to register themselves and their properties, pay a fee and provide information including contact, property and safety details.
The database is intended to help tenants check important information before renting and help councils identify non-compliance. The precise timetable, fees and registration process should be checked when the implementing regulations are published.
The landlord ombudsman
The proposed private rented sector landlord ombudsman is not yet operating. It is intended to provide tenants with an alternative means of resolving complaints without court proceedings and will eventually require private landlords to become members.
The government’s current roadmap expects mandatory ombudsman membership in 2028, after the database has been introduced. Until then, references suggesting that tenants can already take a complaint to the new ombudsman are premature.
The Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law
The Act provides for a Decent Homes Standard to be applied to private rented homes and for Awaab’s Law to be extended to the sector. Awaab’s Law will set enforceable time limits for dealing with serious hazards.
These measures are not yet in force for private landlords. Their detailed requirements and commencement dates remain subject to consultation and further regulations.
That does not mean landlords can ignore damp, mould, electrical dangers or other hazards in the meantime. Existing repairing obligations, fitness-for-human-habitation requirements and local-authority enforcement powers continue to apply.
Who is covered by the Renters’ Rights Act?
The tenancy reforms principally apply to assured tenancies in the private rented sector in England.
They do not generally apply in the same way to lodgers living with a resident landlord, holiday lets, commercial tenancies or accommodation occupied under a licence rather than a tenancy. Older regulated tenancies can also be subject to different rules.
Most assured social housing tenancies provided by private registered providers were not brought into the new framework on 1 May 2026. The government currently intends the tenancy changes for that part of the social sector to begin in October 2027.
The Act does not introduce the tenancy system for Wales. Welsh landlords and contract-holders remain governed principally by the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016.
What should landlords and tenants do now?
For tenants
Keep the tenancy agreement, rent records, deposit information, photographs and communications with the landlord. Make important requests in writing and keep evidence that they were delivered.
If you receive a possession notice, check the ground, form, dates and notice period before assuming that you must leave. A landlord may have a valid reason for possession, but still need to follow the procedure correctly.
If a rent increase appears higher than the market rent, do not miss the tribunal deadline while trying to negotiate. Similarly, a request for a pet should be made in writing and should provide enough information for the landlord to make a reasoned decision.
The government provides a useful Renters’ Rights Act overview for tenants. Shelter also offers practical guidance for private renters.
For landlords
Stop using old assured shorthold tenancy and section 21 documents. Review tenancy templates, rent-increase procedures, advertisements, pet-request processes and possession notices.
Record why decisions are made. Evidence is particularly important when relying on a possession ground, refusing a pet request, selecting between prospective tenants or showing compliance with information requirements.
Landlords who remain organised and communicate clearly should find much of the new system manageable. The greatest risk lies in continuing to operate as though the old law still applies.
Frequently asked questions
Has section 21 been completely abolished?
No new section 21 notice can be served for a private assured tenancy in England. Proceedings properly started by 31 July 2026 using a valid pre-1 May 2026 notice can still continue, but an old notice can no longer be used to begin a new claim.
Can a landlord still evict a tenant?
Yes. A landlord can seek possession using a valid statutory ground, such as selling, moving in, rent arrears, anti-social behaviour or breach of tenancy. If the tenant does not leave, the landlord will normally need a court order.
Do existing tenants need a new tenancy agreement?
Usually not. Most existing assured shorthold tenancies became assured periodic tenancies automatically. The existing written agreement can continue, subject to the new statutory rules, although the landlord was required to provide the government information sheet by 31 May 2026.
Can a landlord increase the rent by any amount?
There is no general percentage cap, but the proposed rent must not exceed the open-market rent. The landlord must normally use form 4A, give two months’ notice and wait at least 12 months between increases. The tenant can ask the First-tier Tribunal to determine the market rent.
Can a landlord refuse all pets?
A blanket prohibition cannot remove the tenant’s statutory right to make a written request. The landlord must consider the particular request and cannot refuse unreasonably. Permission is not automatic, and the tenant should not bring a pet into the property without first obtaining consent.
Can a landlord require pet insurance?
The final Act does not give landlords a general right to require tenants to buy pet-damage insurance or pay a separate pet deposit. Proven damage can still be claimed from the ordinary tenancy deposit, subject to the usual deposit rules.
Is there now a landlord ombudsman?
Not yet. The landlord ombudsman is a later-stage reform. The government currently expects membership to become mandatory in 2028, following implementation of the private rented sector database.
Does the Renters’ Rights Act apply in Wales?
No. The main tenancy reforms discussed in this guide apply in England. Renting in Wales is governed by a separate statutory regime.
A fairer system still depends on getting the details right
The Renters’ Rights Act has undoubtedly strengthened tenants’ security. A landlord can no longer end an assured tenancy without identifying a legal reason, and tenants have greater protection against bidding wars, excessive advance rent, discriminatory blanket policies and unreasonable refusals concerning pets.
But the reforms have not made landlords powerless or removed tenants’ responsibilities. Rent must still be paid, agreements must still be observed and possession remains available where a statutory ground is established.
The practical difference is that both sides now need to pay closer attention to procedure. For tenants, knowing that a notice is not necessarily the end of the matter can relieve a great deal of understandable panic. For landlords, careful documents and good records are no longer merely sensible administration; they are central to enforcing legal rights.
For related articles, visit my landlord and tenant law guides.
Last legally reviewed: 3 August 2026
This guide is intended for general information only. It does not constitute legal advice or establish a professional relationship.
