Details of the legislation – Enactment

The Renters’ Rights legislation received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025 and is now an Act of Parliament. The UK Government has set out three official phases, with additional elements of the Act coming into force from 27 December 2025.

Phase 1 introduces reforms to tenancies including the abolition of Section 21 evictions, the replacement of Assured Shorthold Tenancies with Assured Periodic Tenancies, reforms to possession grounds, annual limits on rent increases, bans on rent discrimination for benefit recipients and renters with children, banning rental bidding, banning rent in advance and preventing landlords from unreasonably refusing a tenant’s request to keep a pet at the property. These will come into force on 1 May 2026.

Phase 3 will introduce the Decent Homes Standard. This will also introduce Awaab’s law into the PRS as
part of the Decent Homes Standard. This will come into force from 2035.

From 1 May 2026, landlords in the private rented sector in England will no longer be able to use Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to evict tenants. Landlords will be able to evict tenants who have an assured periodic tenancy using a Section 8 notice.

• If tenants are given a Section 8 notice before 1 May 2026 – landlords will usually only be able
to use the notice to start court proceedings for up to 12 months after the date they gave it to the tenant or until 31 July 2026, whichever is sooner.

• If tenants are given a Section 8 notice on or after 1 May 2026 – landlords will usually have up
to 12 months after the date they gave it to the tenant to apply to court to evict them.

• If tenants are given a Section 21 notice before 1 May 2026 – landlords will usually only be able
to use the notice to start court proceedings for up to six months after giving it to tenants or until 31 July 2026 (three months following legislation starting on 1 May 2026), whichever is sooner.

• After 31 July 2026 landlords will not usually be able to use a Section 21 notice to start an eviction process – this will apply even if landlords gave the tenant notice less than six months ago.

Tenants can give notice at any point during the tenancy, but they cannot end the tenancy on any date they choose. Under the Renters’ Rights Act, tenants must give at least two months’ notice, and the notice must expire at the end of a rental period (usually in line with the rent due date).

This means that tenants are no longer tied to fixed terms and can serve notice at any time. However, the tenancy cannot end partway through a rental period.

Example:

If rent is due on the 1st of each month and a tenant gives notice on 10 June, the earliest the tenancy could end would be 31 August, not 10 August.

If the tenant has already given notice but changes their mind and wants to stay in the property, they will only be able to stay if the landlord agrees to this in writing. If the landlord does not agree, the tenancy will end as planned.

If a joint tenant changes their mind and would like to stay, all the other joint tenants will also need to agree. If they do not agree, then the tenancy will need to end.

If some of the existing tenants want to stay, landlords will be able to create and sign a new tenancy agreement. Landlords will also be able to add new tenants to an existing tenancy agreement.

Section 8 grounds will remain both mandatory and discretionary. Please see the Propertymark Fact Sheet on the Renters’ Rights legislation for a description and breakdown of each ground.

You will no longer be able to use Form 6a to serve a notice to quit. Currently, Form 3 is the correct form to serve notice under one of the Section 8 grounds for eviction. We expect that the UK Government will look to amend this form to include the new grounds.

The legislation does not prevent a landlord with sitting tenants from marketing the property for sale or carrying out a valuation. Therefore, it is possible for landlords to gauge the market before they issue the Section 8 notice and reach an informed view on how easy it will be to sell the property and at what price.

No, landlords can serve the required 4 months’ notice on month 8 of the tenancy, allowing for tenants to be evicted from the property when the 12-month protection period is over.

The Deregulation Act 2015 was passed on 26 March 2015 in a bid to reduce some of the burdens of previous legislation which no longer had practical use.

Landlords wanting to evict tenants on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy starting on or after 1 October 2015 using the notice seeking possession under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 must use the new standard from of Section 21 Notice (form 6A) and must comply with the prescribed requirements set out by the Secretary of State. These are:

– Valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) must be given to tenant.

– Valid gas safety certificate must be given to tenant.

– Current UK Government How to Rent Guide must be given to tenant.

In addition, Section 21 notices are still invalid and unenforceable when served on assured shorthold tenants living in unlicensed HMOs. Section 21 notices are also still invalid and unenforceable in cases where tenant’s deposits are not protected in a government backed deposit protection scheme and the “prescribed deposit information” is not provided to the tenant within 30 days of receipt of the deposit.

No, from 1 May 2026, it will also be possible for all renters to give at least two months’ notice to quit at any time during the tenancy to bring the tenancy to an end should they wish to do so.

Landlords will be able to evict students using Ground 4A at the end of the academic year if all the following apply:

• all the tenants were full time students when they signed the tenancy, or you expected them to become students during the tenancy

• the landlord is intending to let to students in the future

• the tenancy was signed less than six months before the date the tenants could move in

• the property is an HMO or is part of an HMO

• the landlord gave the tenants written notice that you may evict them under Ground 4A before they signed the tenancy

• The landlord gave the tenants four months’ notice of their intention to evict them – the notice period must end between 1 June and 30 September in any year.

If the Property is let to one or two students and is not an HMO then the landlord will not be able to rely on Ground 4A.

Where the tenancy began before 1 May 2026, if landlords give all the tenants written notice to say that they want to rely on Ground 4A and provide existing tenants with the UK Government issued Information Sheet by 1 June 2026, they may evict the tenants by using Ground 4A. The 6-month restriction will not apply.

The UK Government has also confirmed that where the tenancy agreement was signed before 1 May 2026, landlords can serve two-months’ notice when asking tenants to leave between 1 May 2026 and 31 July 2026, with a possession date between 1 June and 30 September 2026. This limited concession is to allow for a smooth transition to the new regime.

Under the Renters’ Rights Act, one tenant will be able to end the joint tenancy without the agreement of the other tenants. Also, if a joint tenant asks to give a shorter notice period, all the other joint tenants will need to agree to the shorter notice period.

If a joint tenant changes their mind and would like to stay, all the other joint tenants will also need to agree. If they do not agree, then the tenancy will need to end. If some of the existing tenants want to stay, the landlord will be able to create and sign a new tenancy agreement. Landlord will also be able to add new tenants to an existing tenancy agreement.

An alternative to avoid this issue, landlords may want to consider renting on individual room lets basis so if there is a student who drops out it will only be a room and the landlord has discretion over who re-lets the room.

No, if tenants are paying rent monthly, the maximum amount you can ask for is one month’s rent.

Before 1 May 2026, the only assured tenancy that can lawfully be granted is an AST. APTs cannot legally exist or be granted before 01 May 2026.

Therefore, any agreement signed and executed before 01 May must be an AST, even if the tenancy start date is on or after 01 May. That AST will then automatically convert into an APT on 1 May 2026 under RRA.

On or after 1 May 2026, it will not be possible for tenancy agreements to have a set end date. All tenancy agreements will automatically become rolling tenancies on 1 May 2026. If the tenancy had an end date, it will no longer apply.

The How to Rent guide does not need to be served for new APTs from 1 May 2026. Instead, for new tenancies created on or after 1 May 2026, landlords will need to provide certain information about the tenancy to their tenants in writing.

On 20 January 2026, the UK Government published the draft statutory instrument (SI) on the written information landlords must provide to tenants at the outset of tenancies.

The UK Government have said that they expect in most instances, the required written information will be included in the tenancy agreement, rather than being a separate document. The Act mandates provision of a ‘written statement’ as opposed to a ‘written tenancy agreement’, as a tenancy can legally be created without a written agreement between the parties. However, landlords will be able choose to meet this requirement by providing the tenant with this information as part of a written tenancy agreement and this is why the information itself therefore reflects the sort of details you’d usually expect to see in a tenancy agreement.

If one tenant brings a tenancy to an end, it will end for all tenants. To reduce the length of the notice period from two months, the landlord and all tenants will have to agree to a shorter notice period. Where a tenant wants to withdraw from a served notice to quit, this can only be done in agreement with all joint tenants.

From 1 May 2026, landlords will only be able to increase the rent once a year. Landlords will not be able to increase the rent in the first year of the tenancy.

Yes. If a landlord served a valid rent increase notice using Form 4 before 1 May 2026, the increase will still take effect, even if the new rent start date falls after 1 May 2026. This is because the notice was issued under the rules in place at the time. However, from 1 May 2026 onwards, landlords must use the new Section 13 process (Form 4A) for any future rent increases, and the previous Form 4 will no longer be valid for new notices.

The new process is known as the Section 13 process. Under the process landlords will need to complete a ‘Form 4A: Landlord’s notice proposing a new rent’. The Form will be published on GOV.UK for use on or after 1 May 2026.

Landlords will give notice to tenants by giving them the completed form at least two months before they want the rent increase to start. Tenants can receive the notice in the following ways:

• in person
• by post
• by email – if that’s allowed in the tenancy agreement

The increase will need to be in line with the rent that would be expected to receive if the property was to be relet the property on the open market rent.

If a tenant thinks the rent increase is higher than the open market rate, they will be able to ask the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to decide what the new rent amount should be.

The Tribunal has experts who are experienced in understanding the different factors which result in the open market rent and determining whether a proposed rent is reflective of this.

Section 14 of the Housing Act 1988 sets out the factors that must be considered or disregarded by the Tribunal when determining rents. It would not be appropriate to provide guidance beyond this to the Tribunal as to how the legislation should be interpreted, as this is a matter for the judiciary.

When considering the proposed rent, the Tribunal must look at the rent the property could command on the open market, rather than costs borne by the landlord. However, the open market rent of the property could be affected by the condition of the property, among other factors. It will be for the Tribunal to make a determination in each case.

No, the UK Government has made it clear that the new rent determined by the Tribunal will apply from the date of the Tribunal’s decision, with the ability for the Tribunal to defer rent increases by up to 2 months in cases of undue hardship.

No, on and after 1 May 2026, a landlord will only be able to require up to one month’s rent (or 28 days’ rent for tenancies with rental periods of less than one month) once a tenancy agreement has been signed and before it starts.

The Renters’ Rights Act also amends the Housing Act 1988 so that, once a tenancy starts, a landlord will be unable to enforce any terms in a tenancy agreement that require rent to be paid in advance of the agreed due date.

Technically, yes. The main point in the legislation is that it cannot be required as a condition of taking on the tenancy. If once the tenancy is in place, the tenant chooses to pay rent in advance, and it is their choice, they are able to do so.

While landlords will be restricted from including terms in a tenancy agreement which require rent to be due in advance of the rent period to which the rent relates, tenants will remain free to pay prior to the rent due date should they wish to do so. The UK Government say this maintains flexibility for tenants to manage their tenancies in the way that best suits them. However, landlords will not be able to require a tenant to pay their rent before it is due.

Landlords can continue to request a deposit equivalent to five- or six-weeks’ rent, depending on the amount of rent due, and can request a holding deposit to secure the property.

No, on and after 1 May 2026, a landlord will only be able to require up to one month’s rent (or 28 days’ rent for tenancies with rental periods of less than one month) Where a tenant cannot satisfy pre-tenancy checks, a landlord can require a tenant to provide a guarantor. Furthermore, the UK Government have said that professional guarantor services can also help prospective tenants acquire a tenancy guarantor in circumstances where they otherwise would not have been able to do so, such as those who have recently travelled to the UK.

Yes, agreements can be in place for set periods or open ended, so it is worth checking any guarantor agreement carefully so that the guarantor knows how and when their liability ends.

Landlords must not use guarantors to replicate fixed terms once these are abolished. A landlord who collects rent from a guarantor to cover a period after the tenancy has ended will be in breach of the Tenant Fees Act 2019. A payment from a guarantor to a landlord to cover rent for a period after the end of the tenancy is not permitted under that Act.

The UK Government wants to ensure that tenants can seek redress against their landlord when they have a legitimate complaint about the landlord’s action, inaction, or behaviour.

The view of Ministers is that landlords who use letting agents cannot delegate responsibility for their own actions or behaviours. They say landlords almost always retain some responsibility for their property that cannot be passed on to agents—for example, making structural repairs in buildings. To this end, they argue that tenants should be able to access redress if they experience issues such as this, regardless of whether their landlord uses an agent. That is why the UK Government thinks it is essential that both landlords and agents can be held to account for their individual responsibilities.

Yes, it will be compulsory for all landlords to be members of a redress scheme, regardless of if they use an agent who is registered with The Property Ombudsman or Property Redress Scheme.

Ministers have said that the UK Government’s preference is for the Housing Ombudsman Service to deliver private landlord redress, but no final decision has been made.

For landlords who have already voluntarily joined a redress scheme, once a mandatory private Landlord Ombudsman service is in place it will be tailored to the specific needs of the private rented sector, and those landlords will have to move to it.

Yes. As with the agents’ redress schemes, there will be a charge for landlords to sign up. The UK Government is currently exploring what it hopes to be a “fair and proportionate charging model” which will be confirmed closer to the launch of the Ombudsman service.

The Renters’ Rights Act will introduce a new Private Rented Sector Database. All landlords of assured and regulated tenancies will be legally required to register themselves and their properties on the database.

No, because the UK Government says that selective licensing and the Private Rented Sector Database have different purposes. Unlike the database, selective licensing schemes aim to target specific local issues by enabling more intensive proactive enforcement strategies. The UK Government has said that it will continue to review the use of selective licensing as it develops the Private Rented Sector Database – refining the way the two systems work together.

The UK Government has said they will make information from the database public only if that is necessary and proportionate to meeting the aims of the database. They want to provide tenants with the information they need to make sound decisions about renting but will respect landlords’ rights to privacy and to follow data protection and human rights legislation.

Letting agents and will be prohibited from marketing properties to let, unless the landlord has registered with the Private Rented Sector Database and Ombudsman Scheme.

Under the Renters’ Rights Act it is illegal for landlords and letting agents in England, Scotland and Wales to discriminate against tenants in receipt of benefits or because they have children.

Rental discrimination includes landlords and letting agents withholding information about a property including its availability such as property details or the availability of the property, stopping someone from viewing a property or refusing to grant someone a tenancy.

The UK Government is emphasising that agents and landlords must consider individual circumstances when letting out to tenants with children or who are benefit recipients. When explaining why applications to rent are denied, agents and landlords can point to inappropriate properties, such as those with few bedrooms or which are considerably more expensive than what a tenant could receive with benefits. This could be clearly stated in writing to avoid potential legal challenges.

Existing insurance contracts will be exempt from the measures outlined in the legislation until they come to an end or are renewed. From 1 May 2026, when the legislation comes into force, any restrictive terms for new insurance policies have no effect.

On or from 1 May 2026, landlords and letting agent will not be allowed to ask for, encourage or accept an offer that is higher than the advertised rent.

A written advert is an advert that is online, printed, social media post and any digital communication such as email, text messages or direct mail.

Letting agents are not allowed to accept an offer that is more than the advertised rent.

The Renters’ Rights Act gives all private rented sector tenants the right to request a pet, which landlords will not be able to unreasonably refuse. Landlords will need to consider each request on a case-by-case basis.

The legislation does not set out details on what a reasonable reason would be to refuse a pet. However, guidance from the UK Government says it may be reasonable to refuse a request in some circumstances, such as:

• Another tenant has an allergy.

• The property is too small for a large pet or several pets.

• The pet is illegal to own.

• If the landlord is a leaseholder, and the freeholder does not allow pets.

It will not usually be reasonable to refuse if the landlord:

• Does not like pets.

• Has had issues with tenants who had pets in the past.

• Has had previous tenants with pets who damaged the property.

• Has general concerns about potential damage in the future.

• Thinks a pet might affect future rentals.

• Knows the tenant needs an assistance animal, such as a guide dog

If the contract has a clause that prevents the tenant from owning a pet if the landlord’s refusal has been found to be reasonable, either by the courts or through the new Private Rented Sector Ombudsman, then this would be grounds for eviction. However, since breaking the terms of the tenancy agreement is still a discretionary clause, the landlord will still have to go through the legal process of evicting the tenant.

The tenant could challenge this in court or through the landlord ombudsman, and it may be ordered that the pet is allowed, if reasonable to do so.

The DHS was first implemented for social housing in 2001, and last updated in 2006, acting as a technical standard specifying minimum criteria that social landlords must meet to ensure their properties are decent.

The Renters’ Rights Act gives the UK Government powers to introduce the DHS to the private rented sector. Ministers want to ensure that all PRS properties meet a minimum standard of housing quality and provide local councils with powers to take enforcement action if PRS properties fail to meet it.

Criterion A – A home must be free of the most dangerous hazards.

– Homes must be free of Category 1 hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Councils must take enforcement action where these are found. (This is already required for the PRS under the Housing Act 2004).

Criterion B – A home must be in a reasonable state of repair.

Homes will fail against this criterion if:

– one or more key building components is not in a reasonable state of repair, or

– two or more other building components are not in a reasonable state of repair

Criterion C – A home must provide core facilities and services.

To meet this criterion, flats must provide at least three of the following facilities:

– a kitchen with adequate space and layout

– an appropriately located bathroom and WC

– adequate external noise insulation

– adequate size and layout of common entrance areas for blocks of flats

To meet this criterion, houses must provide at least two of the following facilities:

– a kitchen with adequate space and layout

– an appropriately located bathroom and WC

– adequate external noise insulation

Homes must also be equipped with child-resistant window restrictors, which can be overridden by an adult, on all windows which present a fall risk for children.

Criterion D – A home must provide thermal comfort.

– To meet this criterion, homes must provide a reasonable degree of thermal comfort. This includes ensuring homes meet Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards.

Criterion E – A home should be free of damp and mould.

– Homes will be non-decent if a landlord has not remedied damp and mould.

Yes, the Secretary of State has the power to assign properties as “qualifying properties” that would meet additional standards beyond what is being introduced through the DHS. These currently are HMOs, properties that are built or adapted for the use of an HMO that are only currently occupied by persons who form a single household, and student accommodation that does not qualify as an HMO.