The Renters' Rights Act: What 1 May 2026 Means for Landlords

Published 30 April 2026 · 9 min read

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025, and its core provisions take effect on 1 May 2026 (the day after this article goes live). From that date, Section 21 "no-fault" evictions are gone, fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies are gone, and a single new periodic tenancy regime applies to existing and new tenancies alike. Tenants can challenge rent increases at the First-tier Tribunal, and a new private rented sector ombudsman and landlord database are scheduled to follow later in 2026.

If you own or manage rental property in England, the headlines have probably reached you already. What is less clear is the practical question: what should you actually do differently from Monday morning?

This guide is written for landlords, letting agents, and portfolio managers who need a clear-eyed summary of what has changed, what has not, and where the new risks sit. The short version: the regulatory floor has risen, the eviction routes have narrowed, and the quality of your inspection and deposit evidence is now doing more work than ever.

What's Changed: The Headlines

1. Section 21 "no-fault" evictions are abolished from 1 May 2026

You can no longer end a tenancy without giving a reason. The last day to serve a Section 21 notice is 30 April 2026. From 1 May, Section 21 is no longer available for any tenancy in England.

A Section 21 notice that was correctly served before 1 May 2026 remains valid, but with a hard deadline: landlords must apply to the court by the earlier of (a) the existing six-month validity from when the notice was served, or (b) 31 July 2026, the new statutory long-stop. After that, any unused Section 21 notice falls away.

To recover possession on or after 1 May, you now need to use Section 8 grounds, for example rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, sale of the property, or a landlord moving back in. Some grounds are mandatory (a court must grant possession if proven), some are discretionary (a judge weighs the circumstances), and several have been deliberately tightened:

Mandatory rent-arrears (Ground 8) now requires three months' arrears (not two), or thirteen weeks where rent is paid weekly or fortnightly.
The notice period for Ground 8 doubles from two weeks to four weeks.
The new "landlord intends to sell" ground requires four months' notice and is only available where the tenancy has existed for at least twelve months.

There is also a new civil penalty regime: serving a Section 21 notice on or after 1 May, or otherwise circumventing the new rules, can attract a local-authority fine of up to £7,000.

This does not mean you cannot recover your property. It means you need a documented, evidenced reason to do so.

2. All tenancies are now periodic

Fixed-term ASTs are replaced by a single new periodic tenancy regime. There is no six-month or twelve-month "lock-in" any more. Tenants can leave at any point with two months' notice. Landlords cannot serve a fixed-term renewal at a higher rent. Rent increases are governed by a separate, statutory process (see below). Existing tenancies convert to the new regime on 1 May 2026; you do not need to issue new agreements, but your templates for any new lets must reflect the new rules.

The practical effect: tenancy length is now far less predictable. Some tenants will stay for years. Others may give notice three months in. Either way, your turnover process needs to be ready at any time, not on a calendar.

3. Rent increases: once a year, by Section 13 (Form 4A) only

From 1 May 2026, the only lawful way to increase rent on a periodic assured tenancy is by serving a Section 13 notice using Form 4A, with at least two months' notice of the new rent (up from one month under the previous regime). Rent can only be increased once every twelve months.

Any clause in a tenancy agreement that purports to allow a rent increase by another route (rent review clauses, index-linked uplifts, stepped rent provisions, agreed addenda) is of no effect under Section 6 of the Act. If your standard agreement contains any of these, it needs updating.

Tenants who believe the proposed rent is above the market rate for similar properties in the area can refer the increase to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) before the proposed start date, having notified the landlord. The tribunal will assess the open-market rent.

The tribunal cannot set the rent higher than what the landlord proposed, only the same or lower. This removes the previous risk that some tenants faced of asking for a review and ending up worse off, and means a market-rate proposal carries no upside risk to the landlord at tribunal.

4. Bidding wars are out, asking rents are in, and rent-in-advance is capped

Landlords and agents must advertise a clear asking rent and cannot accept offers above it. The era of "best and final" rental bidding in high-demand areas is over.

In the same package, the Act bans demanding large amounts of rent in advance. Landlords can ask for the first month before the tenancy starts, but cannot require multiple months upfront as a workaround for affordability checks or a substitute for a higher deposit.

5. Pets: the right to request

Tenants now have a right to request a pet, and landlords must respond in writing within a defined timeframe and cannot refuse unreasonably. An earlier draft of the Bill would have allowed landlords to require pet damage insurance as a condition of consent, but that provision was removed at the Lords Report Stage and is not in the final Act. Landlords cannot require a pet insurance policy and cannot charge a separate "pet deposit". The standard five-week deposit is intended to cover any pet-related damage.

6. Decent Homes Standard and Awaab's Law: extended in principle, but later

The Act provides for the Decent Homes Standard to be extended to the private rented sector, but the government's published roadmap proposes commencement in 2035 or 2037, subject to further consultation. It is a future obligation to be aware of, not a 1 May change.

Separately, Awaab's Law, which sets fixed maximum timeframes for landlords to investigate and remediate serious hazards such as damp and mould, is in force in the social rented sector from 27 October 2025. Extension to the PRS will follow secondary legislation after further consultation; no firm commencement date has been confirmed. Treat it as imminent rather than live.

7. New landlord database (late 2026) and PRS Ombudsman (2028)

A new landlord and property database will require landlords to register themselves and each property they let. Rollout is scheduled to begin in late 2026. Operating outside the database, once it is in force, will be an offence.

A new private rented sector Ombudsman will provide free, binding redress for tenants. The government's roadmap currently anticipates the Ombudsman launching in 2028, when the Secretary of State is satisfied the service is ready. Both reforms sit in the second phase of implementation, after the 1 May go-live of Sections 21 and 13.

8. Discrimination provisions

Blanket bans on tenants in receipt of benefits or with children are now expressly prohibited. Affordability checks remain permitted; discrimination on protected characteristics or status does not.

9. Stronger council enforcement powers (already in force)

New local authority investigatory powers came into force on 27 December 2025. Councils now have stronger rights to inspect properties, demand documents, and access third-party data when enforcing housing standards. This precedes the main 1 May commencement and is already shaping how housing teams approach private rented sector compliance.

A note on commencement dates. The Act is being implemented in phases under a published government roadmap. Always check the latest official guidance, the GOV.UK guide to the Renters' Rights Act, for the exact date a particular provision applies to your tenancies.

Tenant Rights and Tenant Damages: Both Things Are True

Most coverage of the Act has focused, understandably, on the new tenant protections: longer-term stability, the right to challenge rent rises, the right to request pets, the end of revenge evictions. These are real and they matter.

But there is a second half of the picture that landlords need to keep firmly in mind:

Tenants are still legally liable for damage they cause to a rented property. The Renters' Rights Act has not changed that.

What the Act has done is raise the practical importance of how you evidence, claim, and recover that liability. Here is why.

The deposit cap and protection rules are unchanged

Deposits in England are still capped at five weeks' rent (or six weeks where the annual rent is £50,000 or more), and must still be protected within 30 days in one of the three government-authorised schemes: TDS, DPS, or mydeposits. The 30-day prescribed information requirement still applies. None of this has changed.

What has changed is the relative size of the deposit compared with the new tenant flexibility. With tenants able to leave on two months' notice, the deposit you took at the start may need to cover damage from a tenancy that lasted three months, or three years. Either way, that pot is your only practical lever for recovering damage costs without going to court.

You cannot simply re-let to absorb the cost

Pre-Act, some smaller landlords took a pragmatic view: if a tenant left on reasonable terms but the property needed a few hundred pounds of work, raising the rent on the next tenancy might quietly recoup the cost. With rent increases now constrained to once a year and challengeable at tribunal, that informal recovery route is much less reliable.

In other words: what you do not recover from the deposit, you may not recover at all.

Disputes are still won and lost on evidence

Deposit scheme adjudicators at TDS, DPS, and mydeposits are unaffected by the Renters' Rights Act. They still apply the same evidence hierarchy they always have:

A signed check-in inventory and schedule of condition (the baseline)
Time-stamped photographic evidence
A like-for-like check-out comparison
Itemised costs supported by invoices or contractor quotes
Honest treatment of fair wear and tear

Without a clean baseline, claims fail. We covered this in detail in our guide to tenancy deposit dispute adjudication, and nothing in the new Act changes that fundamental position.

Use deposit protection schemes effectively, not just compliantly

There is a difference between complying with deposit protection rules and using them effectively. Compliance is the legal minimum: register the deposit, send the prescribed information, retain it correctly. Effective use means:

Building a check-in evidence pack the scheme adjudicator can decide on without further questions
Mirroring that pack at check-out with the same rooms, same angles, same level of detail
Submitting deductions promptly and itemised, with supporting invoices
Treating the deposit as insurance you have already paid for, which only pays out if your evidence is in order

What Section 21 Going Away Really Means for Inspections

For more than two decades, Section 21 acted as a kind of pressure valve. If a tenancy was deteriorating, if the relationship had broken down, if the property was being mistreated, a landlord could give two months' notice and recover possession without having to prove anything in court.

That valve has now been removed. To end a tenancy, you need a Section 8 ground, and Section 8 grounds require evidence.

That evidence does not magically appear at the moment a tenancy goes wrong. It is built quietly and routinely, from the start of the tenancy onwards, through:

A thorough, signed check-in inventory
Periodic mid-tenancy inspections, dated and documented
Records of communication, repairs, and any concerns raised
Photographic evidence of condition at every touchpoint

Landlords who already run disciplined inspection processes are well placed for the new regime. Landlords who relied on Section 21 as a fallback for hard cases will now find that the inspection record they did or did not keep is the difference between a successful possession claim and a stuck tenancy.

A Practical Checklist for Landlords Under the New Act

If you do nothing else this quarter, work through this list:

Audit your live tenancies before 1 May. Confirm each one's status under the new periodic regime. If you have any valid Section 21 notices in flight, diary the 31 July 2026 long-stop and apply to court well ahead of it.
Refresh your tenancy agreement template. Strip out rent review clauses, index-linked uplift clauses, stepped rents, and any "agreed by addendum" rent mechanics. These are now of no effect. Remove blanket pet bans and any benefits/children exclusions. Move all rent increases onto Section 13 / Form 4A with two months' notice.
Re-baseline every property where evidence is thin. If you do not have a proper signed check-in inventory for an existing tenancy, agree a mid-tenancy schedule of condition with the tenant. It is far better than nothing.
Tighten your check-in process. Comprehensive room-by-room inventory, dated photographs from consistent angles, written and signed by the tenant, deposit registered and prescribed information served within 30 days.
Schedule mid-tenancy inspections. Six- or twelve-monthly inspections create the documentary trail that Section 8 cases (and Awaab's Law compliance) depend on. Always serve at least 24 hours' written notice.
Standardise your check-out pack. Same format, same room order, same camera angles as your check-in. Side-by-side comparisons win disputes.
Itemise all deductions with invoices or quotes. Round-number estimates and "general damage" are the fastest route to a lost adjudication. Detail wins.
Register on the new PRS database when required. Make sure each property is correctly listed, and keep your registered details up to date.
Plan for Awaab's Law timeframes. Have a clear repair-triage process, with documented response times for damp, mould, and other prescribed hazards.
Train anyone who acts on your behalf. Agents, inventory clerks, and contractors all need to understand the new rules, particularly around rent increases, pet requests, and discrimination.

How VeriStay Helps

The Renters' Rights Act has not invented a new evidence standard for property inspections. It has made the existing one harder to skip. Adjudicators still want the same thing they have always wanted: a clear baseline, a clear comparison, and itemised costs with proof.

VeriStay is built for exactly that. Every inspection produces a structured, timestamped, room-by-room record. Photographs are captured with embedded metadata, AI assists with damage detection so tired eyes do not miss the small stuff, and check-out comparisons are generated automatically against your check-in baseline. The output is the kind of evidence pack that deposit scheme adjudicators rank highest in their hierarchy, produced as a by-product of doing the inspection rather than a retrospective scramble.

In a regime where Section 21 is gone, rent rises are challengeable, and your deposit is one of the only fast levers you still have, that quality of evidence stops being a nice-to-have. It is the thing that decides whether you recover the cost of damage or absorb it.

The Bottom Line

The Renters' Rights Act tilts the balance in important ways towards tenant stability, and most of those changes are reasonable and overdue. It does not, however, change the fundamentals of the landlord-tenant bargain. Tenants are entitled to a safe, well-maintained home. Landlords are entitled to recover the property when there is a proper reason, and to recover the cost of damage from the deposit they hold.

What the Act does do is raise the price of sloppy evidence. Section 21 will no longer rescue a thin inspection file. Tribunal challenges will sharpen the discipline around rent increases. And the deposit protection schemes (the same TDS, DPS, and mydeposits adjudicators that have been deciding disputes for years) are now the principal route to recovering the cost of damage.

Get your inventory, your inspections, and your deposit evidence right. Everything else gets easier from there.

This article is provided for general information and is not legal advice. The Renters' Rights Act is being implemented in phases; landlords should consult the latest official guidance on GOV.UK or take professional advice on their specific circumstances.