Renters’ Rights Act comes into force today, 1 May 2026

The most important changes encompassed in the Act include:

1. A seismic change to the short-term tenancy regime: The Act heralds a shift from fixed-term to periodic tenancies, and the need to have statutory grounds for possession. Limited fixed-term occupation under Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) becomes a thing of the past. Instead, tenants are entitled to keep occupying their properties under rolling periodic tenancies unless and until the landlord can satisfy specific grounds for possession, such as an intention to occupy, sell or redevelop, or because of specific tenant defaults. The new legislation therefore ends so-called “no fault” section 21 evictions, by replacing them with a specified range of termination grounds. Existing ASTs will from today become Assured Periodic Tenancies (APTs) under the new regime
2. The Act also gives tenants greater rights including the introduction of a new decent homes standard, the right to request permission to keep a pet, anti-discrimination provisions, limits on bidding wars and a ban on collection of over one month’s rent up-front. It also imposes greater regulation on landlords, and introduces sanctions for failure to comply. Landlords will also only be able to increase the rent once per year in an attempt to give certainty for tenants.

Immediate action points for landlords

Existing leases: Serve an information sheet on existing tenants by 31 May. This is a pro forma document prepared by the government to help tenants understand the changes introduced by the new regime. The government guidance says this can be provided to tenants in hard copy (posted or by hand) or electronically as an attachment to an email (not a link), but it’s worth checking the service provisions in the lease. Failure to provide this information could result in a fine of up to £7,000.

New leases entered into after 1 May 2026: provide a written statement of terms as set out in the Assured Tenancies (Private Rented Sector) (Written Statement of Terms etc and Information Sheet (England) Regulations 2026, including information about the parties, the property and the terms of the lease. More detail is set out in the government guidance.

Section 21 notices served before 1 May: Possession proceedings must be issued by 31 July.

Terminating tenancies after 1 May: Landlords must satisfy the grounds set out in the Act to terminate.

Proposing rent increases after 1 May: rent increases are limited to once a year at market rent, and must be notified to leaseholders, who can challenge the rent at the first tier tribunal. 

The intention behind the Act is to shift the balance between landlords and tenants and give tenants greater certainty and security, recognizing that a property may be the landlord’s house, but it is also the tenant’s home. As ever, we will be keeping an eye on how things pan out in practice. Will the courts be overwhelmed by the number of tenancy termination cases brought under the Act? And will the later milestones regarding a Decent Homes Standard, Private Rented Sector Database and Ombudsman be achieved within the promised timescale?

Please see our previous articles for further details. Our team would be delighted to advise on this topic if you have any questions.

Authored by Tim Reid, Stella Bliss, Ingrid Stables, and Lucy Redman.