Renters Rights Act: What Landlords Need to Know

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 is the biggest change to private renting in England for a generation. Its central measures - the end of Section 21 "no-fault" evictions and the switch to open-ended periodic tenancies - took effect on 1 May 2026, so as of this update in August 2026 they are settled law, not proposals. Other parts of the Act, including a new landlord database and ombudsman, are still being phased in and their exact timing remains subject to further regulations.

This guide sets out what has already changed, what is still to come, and what that means practically if you let property in England. Wales and Scotland have separate tenancy and eviction frameworks and are not covered here.

Headline changes

From 1 May 2026, the following became law for private tenancies in England:

• Section 21 "no-fault" evictions are abolished. Landlords can no longer end a tenancy simply by giving notice; every eviction now needs a legal ground under Section 8.
• Fixed-term tenancies are gone. New and existing tenancies became Assured Periodic Tenancies, meaning tenants can stay indefinitely unless a landlord successfully uses a Section 8 ground, or they choose to leave by giving two months' notice themselves.
• Possession grounds were rewritten. Some grounds became easier to use (serious rent arrears, persistent anti-social behaviour), while grounds landlords use to sell or move in themselves (Grounds 1 and 1A) cannot be used in a tenancy's first 12 months and require four months' notice.
• Rent increases are limited to once a year, via a revised Section 13 process with at least two months' notice, and tenants can challenge an increase at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).
• Rental bidding and large rent-in-advance requests are banned. Landlords and agents cannot accept offers above the advertised rent, and cannot ask for more than one month's rent upfront.
• Discrimination against tenants with children or on benefits is now illegal, including refusing viewings or withholding availability information on that basis.
• Tenants gained a right to request a pet, which landlords must respond to within 28 days and can only refuse for a valid reason.
• Council enforcement powers and rent repayment orders were strengthened, with higher civil penalties and repeat-offender rules.

These are confirmed, in-force rules, not government proposals. If you are still working from pre-2026 tenancy templates or a Section 21-based eviction strategy, they are now out of date.

End of Section 21 context

Section 21 allowed a landlord to end an assured shorthold tenancy without giving a reason, provided the correct notice and paperwork were used. That route closed for new notices from 1 May 2026. Any Section 21 notice validly served before that date could still be used to start court proceedings, but only up to 31 July 2026 - after that cut-off, unused Section 21 notices lapsed and any new possession claim has to go through Section 8 instead.

If you have a tenancy that started before 1 May 2026 and never had a Section 21 notice served on it, it converted automatically into an Assured Periodic Tenancy on that date. There is nothing you needed to do to trigger this; it happened by operation of law. A handful of tenancy types are treated differently, notably purpose-built student accommodation that meets recognised student housing codes, which is exempt from the assured tenancy regime and retains its own possession ground for the end of an academic year.

A worked example shows how the transition played out. Say a tenancy began in September 2024 on a 12-month fixed term that rolled onto a rolling monthly arrangement without a landlord ever serving a Section 21 notice. On 1 May 2026, that tenancy became an Assured Periodic Tenancy automatically - no new agreement was needed, and the tenant's rights and the landlord's possession options both switched to the post-reform rules from that date. Compare that with a landlord who served a valid Section 21 notice in March 2026 and issued court proceedings in June 2026, before the 31 July 2026 cut-off: that claim could still proceed on the old Section 21 basis, because the notice was served and acted on within the transitional window.

New possession landscape

With Section 21 gone, every eviction now needs a Section 8 ground, and the notice periods and evidence thresholds vary considerably by ground:

• Serious rent arrears (Ground 8) is mandatory once a tenant owes at least three months' rent (13 weeks for weekly or fortnightly tenancies), both when notice is served and at the court hearing. The notice period is at least four weeks. Discretionary grounds 10 (any arrears) and 11 (persistent late payment) are usually included alongside Ground 8 as a fallback if arrears fall below the mandatory threshold before the hearing.
• Landlord wants to sell, or move in themselves (Grounds 1 and 1A) require four months' notice and cannot be used within the first 12 months of a tenancy.
• Anti-social behaviour and serious breach grounds can carry much shorter notice periods, in some cases as little as two weeks, reflecting the seriousness of the conduct.

Because the mandatory rent arrears ground now needs a longer run of arrears and a longer notice period than before, early intervention matters more than ever. Our guide to rent arrears covers the practical steps to take well before you are anywhere near a Section 8 notice, and our dedicated guides to Section 21 notices and Section 8 evictions go into more depth on notice validity and process under the new rules.

As a rough guide to how long each type of ground takes to reach a court date, from the date notice is served:

These are minimum notice periods, not the total time to regain possession. Court listing times add weeks or months on top, so the notice period is only the starting point of the timeline, not the whole of it.

Court capacity is the other practical constraint. The government has committed funding for a new digital possession service and additional court resource, but landlords should still expect possession claims to take longer, in practice, than the statutory notice period alone would suggest - so building in time, and trying to resolve arrears or disputes without court action wherever possible, remains the more reliable route.

Rent increases

Under the revised Section 13 procedure, a private landlord can increase rent no more than once every 12 months, and must give the tenant at least two months' written notice of the proposed new rent before it takes effect. There is no other lawful way to increase rent on an existing periodic tenancy - a rent review clause in an old fixed-term agreement no longer overrides this.

If a tenant thinks the proposed rent is above the market rate for similar local properties, they can refer the increase to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) before it takes effect. The Tribunal will assess the market rent and can set the increase at, below or (from the tenancy reform onward) potentially above the figure the landlord proposed, so a Section 13 notice should reflect a genuine assessment of local rents rather than a routine annual uplift. Our guide on how much a landlord can increase rent walks through worked examples of setting and evidencing a fair increase.

What is still to come

Not every part of the Act is live yet, and it is worth being precise about what is confirmed versus what is still subject to further consultation or regulations, as of August 2026:

• A national PRS database and mandatory landlord registration is due to begin rolling out from late 2026, in stages, with an annual fee to be confirmed closer to launch. This is confirmed in direction but the exact start date and fee level have not been finalised.
• A PRS Landlord Ombudsman for dispute resolution is planned for the same broad phase, with mandatory sign-up expected around 2028. The scheme administrator and charging model are still being finalised.
• Extension of the reforms to the social rented sector is expected around 2027, run jointly with the Regulator of Social Housing.
• A Decent Homes Standard and Awaab's Law for the private rented sector are confirmed in principle but the government has only proposed indicative dates (potentially the mid-2030s for the Decent Homes Standard), pending consultation responses. Treat any specific date you see quoted for this phase as provisional.

In short: the tenancy and possession reforms are done and in force. The database, ombudsman and standards reforms are committed policy but still being worked through in secondary legislation, so timings could move. For the latest official position, GOV.UK's implementation roadmap for the Renters' Rights Act is the primary source, alongside guidance from Shelter and the NRLA.

What to do now

If you have not already done so:

1. Stop using Section 21. Any notice served on or after 1 May 2026 is invalid; move straight to a Section 8 ground with the correct notice period for that ground.
2. Check your tenancy paperwork reflects periodic tenancies, not fixed terms, and that you have issued the required information sheet to existing tenants about the changes.
3. Review how you handle rent increases, making sure any Section 13 notice gives the full two months and is backed by comparable local rents.
4. Get ahead of rent arrears, since the mandatory eviction ground now needs three months of arrears and a four-week notice period, meaning slow escalation costs you more time than it used to.
5. Keep a record of pet requests, viewings and any refusal reasons, so you can demonstrate compliance with the new anti-discrimination and pet-request duties if ever challenged.

How Property HQ helps

Property HQ's compliance register tracks tenancy start dates, notice periods and rent review dates alongside your certificates and licensing deadlines, so you can see at a glance when a Section 13 notice is due or how long a tenancy has run before a Ground 1 or 1A notice becomes usable.

Disclaimer

This guide reflects the Renters' Rights Act 2025 as understood in August 2026, distinguishing rules already in force from measures still being phased in. It is general information, not legal advice. Rules can change through further regulations - check GOV.UK or a qualified solicitor before acting on a specific case.