The Renters' Rights Act: What Changed and What Is Coming
The figures in the worked example are made up.
Section 21 has gone and every tenancy is now rolling. What is in force in October 2026, what comes next, and what to do about it.
- Category
- Lettings
- Who it is for
- Landlords in England
- Time to set up
- A day for a small portfolio, then an hour a property each year
- Saves or earns
- About £1,000 a year a property, and fines of up to £7,000 avoided
01The Problem
The main tenancy changes in the Renters' Rights Act 2025 started on 1 May 2026 and apply to new and existing private tenancies in England. More pieces have started since, and more are on the way. This is a plain guide to where things stand in October 2026, not legal advice. Check your own position with a solicitor or lettings professional before you serve any notice.
What is in force now:
No Section 21
You can't end a tenancy without a reason. Old section 21 notices served before 1 May had to reach court by 31 July 2026. That window has closed, so any unused old notice is now worthless.
Rolling Tenancies
Fixed terms have gone. Tenancies run month to month, and a tenant can leave at any time on two months' notice, including in the first few months.
New Grounds to Get the Home Back
Selling (ground 1A) or moving in yourself or family (ground 1) need four months' notice and can't be used in the first 12 months of a tenancy. After using either, you can't let or advertise the home for 12 months. Serious arrears (ground 8) need at least three months' rent owed both when you serve notice and at the hearing, with four weeks' notice. For antisocial behaviour (ground 14) you can start court action straight away.
One Rent Rise a Year
Only by a section 13 notice (Form 4A) with at least two months' notice. The tenant can challenge it at the First-tier Tribunal before the new rent starts. Rent review clauses no longer work.
No Bidding and No Big Sums Up Front
You must publish an asking rent and can't ask for, encourage or accept more. You can't take rent before the tenancy is agreed, and between signing and the start date you can take no more than one month's rent.
No Blanket Bans
You can't turn people away because they have children or claim benefits. Pet requests must be answered in writing, normally within 28 days, and you need a good reason to say no. Check the latest guidance before asking for pet insurance, and the deposit cap stays at five weeks.
Paperwork
New tenancies need the required terms in writing. For existing written tenancies you had to give tenants the government's information sheet by 31 May 2026.
Bigger Fines
Councils can fine up to £7,000 for a first breach and up to £40,000 for serious or repeat breaches. Tenants can win back up to 24 months' rent through a rent repayment order. Since 23 June 2026, councils can also fine up to £7,000 where a home has a category 1 hazard that was reasonably practicable to fix.
02The Cost
The law itself costs a well-run landlord very little. The money is lost in three places.
Rent you are not charging. Many landlords stopped raising rent because they feared a challenge. Take a flat at £1,400 a month where the local market rises 3 per cent a year. Leave the rent alone for three years and you collect about £3,080 less than a landlord who raised it each year in step with the market. That is about £1,000 a year, on one flat.
Rent rises done badly. Ask too much and the tenant can challenge. The tribunal can't set a rent higher than you asked for, but it can set a lower one, decides on paper, and the new rent only runs from its decision, not backdated. Tribunal market rent decisions jumped from about 44 a month in 2025 to 166 in July 2026, with waits of around three months. Ask for £1,550 when the evidence supports £1,480, and you could lose three months of any increase (£240) and still end up at £1,460 if the tribunal marks the flat down for condition.
Fines and blocked cases. Not giving the information sheet, taking a bid above the asking rent or turning families away can each cost up to £7,000. A missing deposit certificate, or (once it opens) no entry on the new landlord register, stops most possession claims until it is fixed. With arrears, the threshold is three months: on a £1,400 rent, that is £4,200 owed before ground 8 is even available.
03The Fix
Do the Catch-Up Paperwork Now
If you missed the 31 May deadline for the information sheet, send it today and keep proof of the date. Put any verbal tenancy into writing. Check every deposit is protected and the prescribed information was served. Keep dated proof that each tenant got the gas safety record, electrical report and energy certificate.
Get Ready for the Landlord Register
The government's "Register your rental property" service opens on 15 December 2026 in the West Midlands, then one region a month: London opens on 15 July 2027 and the South West last, with a final deadline of 14 November 2027. Each region gets three months. The announced fee is £65 a property a year. It goes by where the property is, not where you live. Have your gas, electrical and energy certificates, licence numbers and rent details ready. Without an active entry you can't get a possession order on most grounds.
Raise Rent Once a Year, with Evidence
Keep three to five rents actually achieved on similar homes nearby in the last six months; tribunals prefer achieved rents to asking prices. Set your figure at or just under that evidence. Serve Form 4A at least two months ahead, never within 52 weeks of the last rise, and keep proof of service. Keep dated inspection photos, because condition is the main reason tribunals mark a rent down.
Let in a Way the New Rules Can't Trip
Advertise one rent and stick to it. Keep a note of every offer. Apply the same affordability check to everyone, whether their income is from work or benefits. Where a tenant's income is weak, ask for a guarantor instead of rent up front. A holding deposit is capped at one week's rent.
Answer Pet Requests Properly
Reply in writing within 28 days. You may ask for reasonable details about the animal. A ban in a head lease is always a good reason to say no; "I don't like pets" is not. Rely on the five-week deposit and a detailed check-in record.
Keep a Possession File from Day One
For each tenancy: signed terms, deposit certificate, proof of prescribed information, dates you served safety papers, rent statement, inspection reports and a log of repair requests. Chase arrears in the first month, with a written payment plan and a letter to any guarantor, long before they reach three months.
Plan Sales a Year Ahead
You can't use the sale ground in the first 12 months, it needs four months' notice, and you can't re-let for 12 months after. If you might sell within 18 months, don't start a new tenancy, or plan to sell with the tenant in place to an investor buyer.
Fix Hazards Fast and Keep Proof
The category 1 hazard fine is live now. Awaab's Law, which will set legal deadlines for fixing damp, mould and other hazards in private lets, is not yet in force: the government consultation runs from 9 October to 18 December 2026, and it says 2027 is the earliest start. The Decent Homes Standard applies to private lets from 2035. Homes must reach the new equivalent of energy band C by 1 October 2030, with spending capped at £10,000 a property, and work done since 1 October 2025 counts.
04The Result
Before
No rent review for three years, an old section 21 notice relied on, and paperwork scattered across emails
After
Yearly rises at evidenced market rent, a full possession file, and every notice sent with proof
Cost
About two hours a property to catch up, plus £65 a year for the register once your region opens
Better Off
About £1,000 a year on a £1,400 flat, before counting fines avoided
The Lessons
- Section 21 has gone for good, and old notices are dead. You now need a ground, the right notice and clean paperwork.
- A small rent rise every year, backed by achieved rents, beats a large one every few years.
- Advertise one rent, treat every applicant the same, and answer pet requests in writing.
- Register each property in your region's window, because no entry means no possession order.
- Awaab's Law for private lets is still out for consultation; the hazard fines are already live.
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