Renters’ Rights Act 2025: What Has Actually Changed for Landlords Since 1 May 2026
Ross McColl
Sep 30, 2026
13 min read
The private rented sector in England changed substantially on 1 May 2026, when the main tenancy reforms contained within the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 came into force.
For landlords, this was not simply a change to Section 21. The legislation altered the structure of private tenancies, possession procedures, rent increases, rental advertising, rent in advance, pet requests and the information landlords must provide to tenants.
Existing assured shorthold tenancies generally converted automatically into assured periodic tenancies, while new qualifying private tenancies created from 1 May 2026 also operate under the periodic system. Section 21 “no-fault” possession has ended for these tenancies, meaning landlords now need to rely on an appropriate statutory ground when seeking possession.
Landlords therefore need to make sure their tenancy agreements, rent-review processes, advertising, referencing procedures and possession notices reflect the law that applies now, rather than continuing to use procedures designed for the former AST system.
The changes that took effect on 1 May 2026 apply broadly to assured tenancies in England’s private rented sector.
The principal changes include:
Assured shorthold tenancies moving to assured periodic tenancies
The abolition of Section 21 possession
Revised Section 8 possession grounds
New rules for landlords selling or moving back into a property
Rent increases generally limited to once per year through the statutory procedure
A minimum two-month notice period for rent increases
A ban on rental bidding above the advertised rent
Restrictions on taking rent in advance
A statutory right for tenants to request permission to keep a pet
New protections against discrimination involving benefits or children
New written-information requirements
Stronger local-authority enforcement and expanded Rent Repayment Orders
These reforms represent a fundamental change in how ordinary private tenancies are operated.
Landlords who have not reviewed their documentation and processes since May are therefore exposed to avoidable procedural and enforcement risks.
Fixed-Term ASTs Have Effectively Ended
One of the most important changes concerns the tenancy itself.
Before 1 May 2026, a landlord would commonly grant a six or twelve-month assured shorthold tenancy. At the end of that period, the tenancy might be renewed, replaced or allowed to become periodic.
Under the new system, assured private tenancies generally operate as periodic tenancies without a fixed contractual end date.
Existing ASTs were converted into assured periodic tenancies when the reforms commenced. New qualifying assured tenancies created after that date also operate periodically.
This does not mean landlords needed to rewrite every existing tenancy agreement on 1 May.
Where an existing tenancy already had written terms, the Government confirmed that landlords did not generally need to issue an entirely new agreement. Instead, most landlords were required to give existing tenants the Government’s Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026 by 31 May 2026.
For new tenancies created from 1 May 2026, landlords must provide prescribed information about the tenancy in writing before the tenancy agreement is signed or otherwise agreed.
What has changed is the importance of establishing and evidencing the correct ground.
A landlord cannot simply decide that they want the tenancy to end and rely on Section 21.
What if a Landlord Wants to Sell or Move Back In?
Two of the most commercially important possession grounds are Ground 1 and Ground 1A.
Ground 1 allows possession where the landlord or certain close family members genuinely require the property as their principal home.
Ground 1A allows possession where the landlord intends to sell the property.
Both are mandatory grounds where the statutory requirements are satisfied, but there are significant restrictions.
Most importantly, these grounds cannot be used to require the tenant to leave within the first 12 months of a new tenancy.
The standard notice period is also four months.
Landlords who recover possession using these grounds also need to be aware of restrictions on remarketing or reletting afterwards.
This makes future planning more important.
A landlord contemplating selling an occupied investment property cannot assume that possession can be obtained within a few weeks. The tenancy commencement date, possession ground, notice period and potential court timescale all need to be considered.
Rent arrears remain grounds for possession, but landlords need to understand the distinction between mandatory and discretionary grounds.
Under mandatory Ground 8, the tenant must generally owe at least three months’ rent – or 13 weeks where rent is paid weekly or fortnightly – both when notice is served and at the possession hearing.
The notice period for Ground 8 is four weeks.
Ground 10 can be used where there are any rent arrears, while Ground 11 deals with persistent late payment. These are discretionary grounds, meaning the court decides whether it is reasonable to make a possession order.
Accurate rent ledgers and clear records of payments, missed payments and correspondence are therefore increasingly important.
Landlords should not wait until possession proceedings are being considered before attempting to reconstruct an arrears history.
Rent Increases Have Changed
Landlords can still increase rent.
However, the procedure is now more tightly controlled.
For assured periodic tenancies, landlords generally cannot increase rent more than once every 12 months, and a new tenancy cannot normally be increased during its first year.
The landlord must use the statutory Section 13 procedure by serving Form 4A and providing at least two months’ notice of the proposed increase.
Contractual rent-review clauses can no longer be relied upon as an alternative method of increasing the rent for tenancies within the new regime.
Tenants can challenge a proposed increase through the First-tier Tribunal if they believe the proposed rent exceeds the property’s open-market rent.
This means landlords should retain evidence supporting their proposed rental figure, including comparable local properties and current market information.
Rent increases should therefore become a structured annual process rather than an informal agreement reached through correspondence.
Rental Bidding Is Now Prohibited
The Act also changed how properties can be marketed.
A written rental advertisement must state a specific asking rent.
Landlords and letting agents cannot ask for, encourage or accept an offer above that advertised rent.
This applies even where an applicant voluntarily offers more.
If a property is advertised at £1,300 per month, the landlord cannot accept £1,350 from an applicant simply because that applicant offered the higher figure.
The rules cover online property advertisements, social-media advertising, printed advertisements and written electronic communications.
For landlords and agents, this means rental valuations need to be considered carefully before the property is advertised.
The official Government guidance on rental bidding explains the restrictions in more detail.
A first breach can attract a financial penalty of up to £7,000.
Rent in Advance Is Restricted
Another significant change concerns rent in advance.
Before 1 May 2026, landlords sometimes requested several months’ rent upfront, particularly where an applicant had limited UK credit history, variable income or difficulty satisfying conventional referencing.
That approach is now restricted.
A landlord or agent cannot ask for, encourage or accept rent before the tenancy agreement has been signed.
Once the agreement has been signed but before the tenancy starts, the landlord may generally require no more than one month’s rent in advance, or 28 days where the tenancy has a shorter rental period.
This affects referencing and risk-management procedures.
Landlords who previously dealt with weaker affordability or credit profiles by requiring six months’ rent upfront need to consider alternative lawful methods of managing that risk, such as appropriate guarantor arrangements where suitable.
Tenants Have a Statutory Right to Request a Pet
The legislation does not give every tenant an unrestricted right to keep a pet.
It gives tenants the right to request permission, and landlords cannot unreasonably refuse that request.
A tenant must make the request in writing.
The landlord normally has 28 days to respond in writing. Reasonable additional information about the proposed pet can be requested before a final decision is made.
There remain circumstances where refusing a pet may be reasonable.
Examples given by Government include situations where:
The property is unsuitable for the size or number of pets
Another occupier has a relevant allergy
The animal is unlawful to own
A superior lease or freeholder prevents pets
Simply stating that the landlord does not like pets, or previously had a negative experience with another tenant’s pet, would generally not be sufficient on its own.
Landlords should therefore have a documented procedure for dealing with requests rather than imposing a blanket “no pets” policy.
Discrimination Against Applicants With Children or Benefits
The Act also introduced specific protections for households receiving benefits and households with children.
Landlords and agents cannot prevent or disadvantage someone from accessing a tenancy simply because they receive benefits or have children.
This includes obvious wording such as “No DSS”, but the rules can also apply to indirect practices designed to prevent such applicants from renting.
Landlords can still carry out normal affordability assessments and referencing.
The distinction is that the assessment should address whether the applicant can reasonably meet the tenancy obligations rather than automatically excluding an entire category of applicant.
Policies, advertisements, application forms and staff procedures should therefore be reviewed for wording that could amount to prohibited discrimination.
Stronger Enforcement Powers Matter
The Renters’ Rights Act does not rely solely on tenants challenging landlords through the courts.
Local authorities have been given wider enforcement powers, while Rent Repayment Orders have also been expanded.
For relevant offences, the maximum Rent Repayment Order has increased from 12 months to 24 months’ rent.
Councils can investigate breaches and impose financial penalties in circumstances provided for by the legislation.
Landlords who receive a penalty notice have procedural rights, including an opportunity to make representations and rights of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal.
The practical implication is straightforward: compliance increasingly requires both doing the correct thing and retaining evidence that it was done.
What Link Property Offers Landlords in the South East
The Renters’ Rights Act significantly increases the importance of structured property management, accurate record keeping and current compliance procedures.
Link Property works with landlords across Kent and the wider South East through professionally managed and guaranteed-rent arrangements.
Under Link Property’s guaranteed-rent model, Link Property leases suitable properties directly from landlords, pays an agreed monthly rental income and manages the day-to-day operation of the property.
The service includes areas such as property inspections, occupant management, maintenance coordination and compliance monitoring. Link Property’s onboarding process also requires key property documentation including gas safety, EICR, EPC and other relevant compliance records.
This does not remove every legal responsibility from the property owner. The precise responsibilities depend on the contractual structure and relevant legislation.
However, professional management can substantially reduce the day-to-day administrative burden of operating rental property.
What Landlords Should Be Doing Now
Landlords should review their existing portfolio rather than assume that because their tenancy agreements were originally drafted correctly, their current procedures remain compliant.
The key areas to review are tenancy templates, possession procedures, arrears records, rent increases, advertising, referencing, pet policies and tenant information.
Old references to Section 21 should be removed from operational procedures.
Rent increases should be diarised so they follow the statutory process.
Advertising teams should know that asking rents cannot become informal auctions.
Applicant screening should not contain blanket restrictions against households receiving benefits or with children.
Existing tenant records should also show that the required Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet was provided where applicable.
For HMOs, the tenancy reforms sit alongside the additional licensing, management and safety requirements that already apply. Our HMO Landlord Common Mistakes guide covers several of these operational risks in more detail.
Things to Know
The main points landlords should now have incorporated into their procedures are:
Section 21 has ended for relevant private tenancies
Assured private tenancies generally operate periodically
Selling or moving in requires an appropriate Section 8 ground
Grounds 1 and 1A normally involve a 12-month protected period and four months’ notice
Mandatory Ground 8 now generally requires three months’ rent arrears
Rent increases generally require Form 4A and two months’ notice
Rent normally cannot be increased more than once each year
Rental bidding above the advertised rent is prohibited
Rent in advance is generally limited to one month after signing
Pet requests must be properly considered
Blanket discrimination against applicants with children or benefits is prohibited
New tenancies require prescribed written information
Enforcement powers and Rent Repayment Orders have been strengthened
Is Direct Landlord Management Becoming More Complicated?
The Renters’ Rights Act has not made private residential letting impossible.
It has, however, made informal management substantially less viable.
A landlord managing one property still needs to understand the same core statutory procedures as somebody managing a much larger portfolio.
For portfolio landlords, those requirements multiply across properties, tenants, inspections, certificates, rent reviews, repairs and possession cases.
That makes reliable systems increasingly important.
Some landlords will continue to operate successfully using professional agents or their own management systems.
Others may decide that a long-term managed arrangement offers a more appropriate balance between income and administrative involvement.
The Renters’ Rights Act represents a structural change to private renting rather than a temporary compliance exercise.
Landlords should make sure their procedures reflect the law applying after 1 May 2026, particularly where older tenancy templates, notices or management processes are still being used.
For landlords across Kent and the South East who want to reduce their involvement in day-to-day property management, Link Property provides long-term guaranteed-rent and management arrangements for qualifying properties.
Visit our Landlord Partners page to learn how the process works and arrange an initial property assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
For relevant private assured tenancies, landlords can no longer serve a new Section 21 notice after the reforms took effect.
Landlords seeking possession must normally rely on an appropriate Section 8 ground and follow the prescribed notice and court process. Transitional arrangements can still apply to certain notices and proceedings that began before 1 May 2026.
Yes, but the statutory procedure must be followed.
An assured periodic tenancy can generally be increased once every 12 months using Form 4A, with at least two months’ notice. Tenants can challenge a proposed increase through the First-tier Tribunal where they believe it exceeds the open-market rent.
Yes, where there is a reasonable basis for refusing the particular request.
What landlords cannot generally do is impose an automatic refusal without considering the request. A written response should normally be provided within 28 days, and reasons should be given where permission is refused.
Generally not for new assured periodic tenancies within these provisions.
Landlords cannot ask for or accept rent before the tenancy agreement is signed. Between signing and the tenancy commencing, they can generally require no more than one month’s rent in advance. Different rules may apply to arrangements outside the scope of these provisions, so the legal status of the tenancy matters.
Yes. Rent arrears remain grounds for possession.
Mandatory Ground 8 generally applies where at least three months’ rent is outstanding both when notice is served and at the possession hearing. Grounds 10 and 11 may also be relevant for lower or persistent arrears, although these are discretionary grounds and the court decides whether possession should be granted.
This article provides general information about the Renters’ Rights Act and should not be treated as legal advice. Landlords dealing with possession proceedings, unusual tenancy structures or disputed compliance issues should obtain advice relevant to their individual circumstances.
Get a valuation
Contact us
Ross McColl
