The Renters’ Rights Act 2025

Updated November 2025

Introduction

From 1 May 2026, many of the provisions of The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (RRA) will take effect.

The RRA is designed to give renters greater security and stability so that they can stay in their homes for longer and avoid the risk of homelessness. This Briefing Note summarises the key provisions of the Act.

Please note that our Briefing Notes are not maintained, and reflect the law as at the date of publication or update.  They should not be relied upon as legal advice and you should contact us for advice on your specific circumstances.

A Summary of the Key Provisions:

Abolition of section 21 ‘no fault’ notices.

From 1 May 2026 landlords will no longer be entitled to serve these notices (which currently allow a landlord to end an assured shorthold tenancy (AST), without reason, by giving two months’ notice).

All assured tenancies will be periodic from the outset.

Again from 1 May 2026 all existing fixed term AST’s and all new residential tenancies will automatically become assured periodic tenancies (APT’s).

Tenants can give two months’ notice.

A tenant will be entitled to give their landlord two months’ written notice to end their tenancy, expiring at the end of a rent period.

Rent periods must not exceed one month.

Rent cannot be payable more than one month in advance.

There will be several new grounds for possession.

By way of example, two new mandatory grounds are as follows:

1. Where landlords or certain close family members intend to occupy the property as their only or principal home.
2. Where landlords intend to sell the property.

However, landlords will not be able to serve notice on these grounds until 12 months have passed from when the tenancy began.

Landlords will need to provide 4 months’ notice when using these grounds.

If a landlord serves a notice under based on their own or a family member’s intention to occupy, they are prohibited from re-letting (to anyone other than their family members), or marketing the property for re-letting, for 12 months from the date that the notice is served.

There are similar additional restrictions in place where a landlord serves notice based on the ground that he intends to sell the property. However, there are some exceptions to this.

Existing grounds for possession have been amended.

By way of example, ground 8 used to provide for there to be at least two months’ rent arrears where rent was payable monthly whereas in the new legislation this will be amended to three months.

The periods of notice required to be given to tenants have been amended.

By way of example ground 8 used to require at least two weeks’ notice to be provided whereas in the new legislation this will be amended to four weeks’ notice.

Rent increases must be in accordance with section 13 of The Housing Act 1988 – contractual rent increases are no longer of any effect.

This means that in order to increase rent landlords must serve their tenants with a formal notice on a prescribed form (pursuant to section 13 of the Housing Act) giving their tenant at least two months’ notice of when the proposed increase will take effect (which must be at the start of a new period of the tenancy). For example, if rent is payable on the 5^th of a month and a landlord serves a section 13 notice on 6 January, the soonest it can take effect will be 5 April. Whereas if notice was served on 2 January, then the soonest it could take effect would be 5 March.

Further regulations are expected to be made (likely in 2026) as to the date from when the new rent will be payable in cases where tenants apply to the First Tier Tribunal to challenge the new rent.

It will be an implied term of the tenancy that a tenant may keep a pet with the landlord’s consent (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld).

Landlords will be obliged to provide tenants with a written statement of terms.

It is anticipated that a prescribed form will be released in due course to capture the information required to be provided.

Landlords are prohibited from offering tenants a fixed term tenancy.

The local authority may impose a fine of up to £40,000 or prosecute a landlord who breaches this provision.

Landlords are prohibited from serving notices specifying a ground without having a reasonable belief that they may obtain possession on that ground.

The local authority may impose a fine of up to £40,000 or prosecute a landlord who breaches this provision.

Landlords are prohibited from giving oral notice of termination of a tenancy.

The local authority may impose a fine of up to £40,000 or prosecute a landlord who breaches this provision.

Landlords are prohibited from serving a notice in any form other than a section 8 notice.

This must be on the prescribed form.

The local authority may impose a fine of up to £40,000 or prosecute a landlord who breaches this provision.

Fixed term tenancies for a term of more than 21 years will not be assured tenancies.

In practice this will mainly affect leasehold flats.

Landlords and agents are prohibited from discriminating against prospective tenants with children and/or in receipt of benefits.

Such practice will be unlawful unless the landlord/agent can show it was a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

The local authority may impose a fine of up to £7,000 to anyone who breaches this provision.

Restrictions will be in place to prevent rent paid in advance.

Rent cannot be paid before the tenancy is entered into.

If however, once a tenancy has commenced, a tenant chooses to pay more than one month’s rent in advance this will be permissible. They cannot however be required to do so.

These provisions will only apply to new tenancies which are granted on or after 1 May 2026.

Rental bidding is prohibited.

Landlords and agents alike must not accept, encourage or invite rents which are higher than those advertised.

The procedure for recovering abandoned premises has been abolished.

The Decent Homes Standard & Awaab’s law.

The Decent Homes Standard is currently applicable to the social rented sector

The current legislation requires social landlords to fix reported damp, mould and emergency repairs within strict timeframes.

The government’s consultations as to implementation in the private rented sector continue and it is expected that the new standard will apply from either 2035 or 2037.

The introduction of a new mandatory landlord database.

This is expected to be introduced in late 2026.

The RRA will ban landlords from using certain grounds for possession in a Section 8 notice if they are not registered on the new landlord database. This ban will apply once the database is operational.

The introduction of a new mandatory Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman.

This is expected to be introduced in late 2026.

More powers and sanctions available to local authorities.

Local authorities will have additional investigative powers and sanctions for non-compliance including increased civil penalties and criminal offences, making it easier for local authorities to take enforcement action.

Rent repayment orders will be extended.

A rent repayment order is a mechanism through which, currently, a landlord who has committed an offence can be ordered to repay an amount of rent to the tenant or local authority.

The RRA will extend rent repayment orders to the offences of knowingly or recklessly misusing a possession ground, breach of a restriction on letting or marketing a dwelling-house, continued tenancy reform breach after imposition of a financial penalty, continued breach of landlord redress scheme regulations after imposition of a financial penalty for this breach, provision of false information to the PRS Database when purporting to comply with PRS Database regulations and continued failure to register with the PRS Database after imposition of a financial penalty for this breach.

Rent repayment orders are being extended to apply to superior landlords and company directors.

The maximum amount of rent a landlord can be ordered to pay will double from 12 to 24 months.

The period in which a tenant or local authority can apply for a rent repayment order after the offence is to be extended from 12 to 24 months.

Summary & Implementation – The Government’s ‘Roadmap’

The government has announced that the reforms to the assured tenancy regime (including for example the abolition of section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, the new periodic tenancy regime, the new rent increase procedure and the changes to the grounds for possession) will come into effect on 1 May 2026. There is an exception to this which is that private registered providers of social housing will continue to be able to use the section 21 procedure until a date yet to be determined.

As from 1 May 2026 private landlords will no longer be able to serve no fault notices (section 21 notices) on their tenants should they wish to seek possession of their property. This is arguably the biggest change in housing legislation since the late 1980’s and gives tenants greater security and stability. Instead, landlords will have to rely on specific statutory grounds for possession contained in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 (as amended by the RRA) and serve a section 8 notice.

However, the RRA introduces many other provisions which landlords, tenants and agents alike will need to be aware of as outlined in this note.

The courts will still be able to process Section 21 possessions that are ongoing as at 1 May 2026 but court proceedings for possession in such cases must begin – in accordance with the current laws – by no later than 31 July 2026.

The RRA’s remaining provisions will be brought into force in two further phases.

The second phase will be the introduction of the new landlord database and Ombudsman which are not expected to be introduced until late 2026.

Phase three will focus on raising standards through the extension of Awaab’s Law and a modernised Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector. The timescales for implementing these changes will be subject to consultation.

Further regulations are expected (likely in 2026) which will make additional provisions. For example, it is expected that there will be requirements for landlords to upload certain documentation on the new mandatory database and if they are not kept up to date possession orders may be prohibited.