The Renters' Rights Act: What Actually Changed on 1 May 2026

On 1 May 2026 the private rented sector in England stopped working the way it had for thirty-eight years.

Section 21 is gone. Fixed terms are gone. Rent can rise once a year and no more. Most of the coverage since has been either panic or sales pitch, so this is the plain version: what changed, what did not, and what you are expected to have already done.

The five changes that matter most

Your tenancies converted themselves

Almost every Assured Shorthold Tenancy in England became an Assured Periodic Tenancy on 1 May 2026. This happened automatically. There was no gap, nothing to re-sign, and no new agreement to issue.

Any fixed term still running simply stopped having effect. A tenancy that had eight months left is now periodic, rolling from one rent period to the next.

What that means in practice:

• The tenant can leave at any time on two months' notice. There is no minimum term binding them
• You cannot end it without a ground, and most grounds carry four months' notice
• The notice periods are now asymmetric, and not in your favour

That asymmetry is the change landlords underestimate. A tenant can go with two months' notice in month three; you generally cannot ask them to leave until month twelve.

Possession now runs entirely through Section 8

Every possession claim needs a ground - a specific, stated legal reason - and each ground carries its own notice period and its own evidence.

The two that matter to most private landlords:

Two details worth having straight:

The 12 months runs from the original start of the tenancy, not from 1 May 2026. Time already served counts. And because it is the expiry of the notice that must fall after the twelve-month mark, you can serve at around month eight.

After using either ground you cannot re-let for 12 months. Breaching that is an offence. If you genuinely are moving in or selling, it costs you nothing - if you were using it as a workaround, it is the trap.

Ground 1 also no longer requires the prior written notice at the start of the tenancy that the old version demanded, and it can now be used by a landlord who bought during the tenancy. Both are quiet improvements for landlords.

The full set of grounds, with notice periods, is in Section 8 Possession Grounds.

Rent increases: once a year, at market rate

Rent can now be raised once in any twelve-month period, by statutory notice, and the new figure cannot exceed what the property would achieve if newly advertised.

The tenant can challenge it at tribunal if they think it is above market. That is the part worth planning around rather than fearing: a challenge is decided on evidence, so a rise you can support with comparable local advertisements is a rise that survives.

The practical consequences:

• Rent review clauses in your agreement no longer do anything. The statutory route is the only route
• Agreeing a rise informally over WhatsApp is not the mechanism, however amicable
• Letting rent drift for years then correcting it in one jump is now much harder - the jump is exactly what gets challenged
• Keep the comparables you relied on, with dates. That file is your evidence

The commercial logic in How to Increase Rent Without Losing a Good Tenant still holds - a small annual rise beats a large occasional one, and always did. The Act has simply made the alternative unavailable.

Pets, and what "unreasonable" means

Tenants can request to keep a pet, and you cannot refuse unreasonably. You must respond within a set period.

"Unreasonable" is not defined exhaustively, which is uncomfortable, but the shape is clear enough. A refusal grounded in something specific - a head lease that forbids pets, a flat genuinely unsuitable for the animal proposed - is a reason. "I would rather not" is not.

Answer in writing, with your reason, within the time allowed. A documented, specific refusal is defensible. Silence is not, and a request that goes unanswered is the weakest position of the three.

Discrimination and bidding are now prohibited

• No blanket bans on tenants receiving benefits, or on families with children. You may still assess affordability - you may not exclude a category of person before you get there
• No bidding wars. You cannot invite or accept offers above the advertised rent. Advertise the number you actually want

The screening consequence is straightforward, and it is what How to Screen a Tenant argued for anyway: set written criteria, apply them identically to everyone, and record the reason for each decision. A consistent, evidenced process is now both better practice and legal protection.

The Ombudsman and the database

The Act creates a Private Rented Sector Ombudsman that landlords must join, and a database on which landlords and properties must be registered.

Both are compulsory rather than optional, and both carry consequences for non-registration - including, in the case of the database, difficulty pursuing possession. Check your registration status rather than assuming your agent handled it; if you self-manage, nobody else was ever going to.

The document you were supposed to serve by 31 May

This is the one that catches people, because it had a deadline that has already passed.

Landlords must give tenants the government's Renters' Rights Act information sheet - to new tenants at the start of a tenancy, and to existing tenants by 31 May 2026.

If you have not done it, do it now and keep proof. Emailing it to the address in the agreement takes a minute and creates the record. Late is materially better than never, because the failure is ongoing until you fix it.

While you are there, the same logic applies to your other served documents - gas safety record, EPC, deposit prescribed information. Compliance failures can block a possession claim regardless of how strong your ground is, and some cannot be cured retrospectively. See Safety Certificates and Tenancy Deposits.

What did not change

Worth saying plainly, because the coverage has implied otherwise:

• You can still recover possession. For genuine reasons, with notice and evidence
• Rent arrears remain a ground. Serious arrears are still a route to possession - see When the Rent Stops
• Deposits work as before - protected, prescribed information served
• Safety obligations are unchanged, and now matter more
• Tax is untouched. Mortgage interest relief, allowable expenses and company ownership are unaffected. See Mortgage Interest and Your Tax Bill
• The arithmetic of a good property is identical. Yield, cash flow and voids do not care which Act is in force

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to issue new tenancy agreements?

No. Conversion was automatic. Your existing agreement continues, minus the clauses the Act overrides - the fixed term and any rent review mechanism. Some landlords issue a short letter explaining what changed; that is courtesy, not obligation.

Can I still take a deposit?

Yes, subject to the existing cap and protection rules, which the Act did not change.

What if my tenant wants a fixed term for certainty?

You cannot give them one. Assured tenancies are periodic and that cannot be contracted out of. A tenant who wants certainty has it in a different form - you now need a ground to remove them.

Does this apply to holiday lets or lodgers?

Generally no. Genuine holiday lets and live-in landlord arrangements sit outside the assured tenancy regime. Whether yours genuinely qualifies is a question worth asking properly rather than assuming.

Does it apply to student lets?

There is a specific ground for student HMOs let on the academic cycle, but it is narrower than the sector expected and does not cover every student property. If you let to students, check whether yours qualifies before planning around it - see Student Lets.

Is it worth selling up?

Some landlords are. The honest answer is that it depends on numbers, not on sentiment about the Act. A property with real cash flow and a good tenant is still a good asset; a property that only worked because you could remove people quickly was always fragile. Run the figures before deciding.

Where to check, and what to do this week

1. Serve the information sheet if you have not, and keep proof
2. Check your database and Ombudsman registration - do not assume
3. Audit your served documents - gas, EPC, deposit prescribed information, with evidence of service
4. Diarise your rent review date, now that it is once a year
5. Keep local comparables so any increase is evidenced from the start

The authoritative source is the government's own guidance: Renters' Rights Act: an overview for landlords and Grounds for possession guidance. Read those rather than a letting agent's summary, this one included.

The record-keeping this all rests on

Nearly every obligation above resolves to the same question: can you show it? When the notice was served. When the rent was last raised. What the comparables were. When the gas certificate was handed over.

The Rental Property Tracker holds rent, expenses and dates per property in one file, so the answers exist before anyone asks for them. Up to twenty properties, $27 once.

And if you are reconsidering whether a property still works under the new regime, the free Rental Yield & Cash Flow Calculator gives you the honest number in about a minute.

General information for landlords in England, not legal advice. The Renters' Rights Act is new, guidance is still developing and the courts have only begun to interpret it. Notice periods, grounds, registration duties and deadlines described here may have been amended since publication. Nothing here is a substitute for checking the current gov.uk guidance and taking advice from a qualified housing solicitor before serving any notice.