The Renters' Rights Act 2025: A Complete Guide for UK Landlords and Tenants

What Is the Renters' Rights Act 2025?

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 is the biggest overhaul of private renting in England in over 30 years. It replaces the assured shorthold tenancy (AST) system that's underpinned the private rented sector since 1988 with a single type of rolling, periodic tenancy — and removes the landlord's ability to evict a tenant without giving a reason.

The Act received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. Rather than commencing all at once, it's being rolled out in phases. The first and largest phase — covering Section 21, periodic tenancies, rent increases, possession grounds, rent in advance, and the pet and discrimination provisions — came into force on 1 May 2026. A second phase, introducing the PRS database and the Ombudsman, is expected from late 2026, with membership becoming mandatory in 2028. A Decent Homes Standard for the private rented sector follows later still.

Key Changes at a Glance

The End of Section 21

Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 let landlords end a tenancy without giving any reason, provided they served the correct notice. It's been the single most-criticised feature of the private rented sector for years, and from 1 May 2026 it no longer exists.

A Section 21 notice could be validly served up to 30 April 2026 under the old rules — but even a validly served notice only had a limited shelf life afterwards. Landlords who served one had to start court proceedings by the earlier of six months from the notice date or 31 July 2026, or the no-fault route was lost entirely.

Every eviction now has to rely on a Section 8 ground: a stated, evidenced reason such as rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, the landlord wanting to sell, or the landlord or a close family member wanting to move in.

Fixed-Term Tenancies Are Gone

There's no more 6-month or 12-month AST. Every private tenancy — new or already running — became an open-ended periodic tenancy on 1 May 2026, rolling on a monthly cycle with no end date built in.

Tenants can leave at any point by giving 2 months' written notice, without waiting for a fixed term to expire. Landlords lose the certainty of a guaranteed minimum term, but gain a tenancy that never automatically lapses into an awkward legal grey area either.

Rent Increases: The New Section 13 Process

Rent reviews written into the tenancy agreement no longer apply. The only way to increase rent during a tenancy is a formal Section 13 notice (using the new prescribed Form 4A), served no more than once every 12 months, giving the tenant at least 2 months' notice before the new rent takes effect.

If a tenant thinks the proposed rent is above the going market rate, they can challenge it — free of charge — at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). Under the new rules the Tribunal can't set a rent higher than what the landlord actually proposed, and any adjusted rent only takes effect from the date of the Tribunal's decision, never backdated. That removes the old disincentive to challenge, where a tenant risked ending up with a higher rent, backdated, for simply asking a Tribunal to look at it.

Grounds for Possession: What Changed

With Section 21 gone, the Section 8 grounds carry all the weight — and several were rewritten or tightened alongside the reform.

The rent arrears threshold matters in practice: under the old rules, landlords could seek mandatory possession once a tenant fell two months (or eight weeks) behind. The Renters' Rights Act raises that bar to three months, or 13 weeks for weekly and fortnightly tenancies — a meaningful buffer in a tenant's favour before the mandatory ground even becomes available.

Rent in Advance and Bidding Wars

Two practices that priced out tenants without a UK guarantor, a strong credit history, or simply deep enough pockets have both been restricted. Landlords and agents can no longer ask for more than one month's rent upfront, closing off the practice of demanding six or twelve months in advance. And a property has to be let at the price it was advertised at — landlords and agents can no longer invite or accept offers above the listed rent, which had turned some lettings into informal bidding wars.

The Right to Request a Pet

Since 1 May 2026, tenants have a statutory right to ask their landlord for permission to keep a pet, and a landlord can't unreasonably refuse. The landlord has 28 days to respond. This doesn't force landlords to accept every request — a genuine, reasonable objection (a small flat with no outdoor access and a large dog, for instance) still stands — but a blanket "no pets" clause with no consideration of the individual request no longer holds up.

No More "No DSS" or "No Children"

Refusing an applicant purely because they receive benefits or have children is now unlawful. This targets a long-standing practice where "No DSS" or similar wording in listings screened out tenants before they'd even had a chance to be assessed on affordability or references.

What's Still Coming

Not everything in the Act commenced on 1 May 2026. A private rented sector database — a single register landlords will need to join — and a new Landlord Ombudsman scheme, giving tenants a route to a binding, out-of-court resolution for complaints, are expected to launch from late 2026, with database membership becoming mandatory for landlords in 2028.

Further out, a new Decent Homes Standard is due to apply to private rented homes from 2035, alongside a minimum EPC C energy efficiency requirement due in 2030. Awaab's Law — the statutory timescales for landlords to fix damp, mould, and other serious hazards, already in force in social housing — is expected to extend to the private rented sector too, though the government hasn't yet confirmed exact hazard categories or a start date for private landlords.

What This Means for Landlords

The practical shift is away from relying on a notice period alone and towards documenting a genuine, evidenced ground for possession — and getting the paperwork right the first time, since a defective Section 8 notice can no longer be quietly replaced with a Section 21 fallback. Rent reviews need to move onto the Section 13 timetable rather than a clause buried in the tenancy agreement, and any pet request needs a documented, reasonable response within 28 days rather than a blanket refusal. None of this makes letting a property unworkable — it makes the process closer to how commercial tenancies have always worked, with more of the relationship resting on evidence and process rather than a fixed-term expiry date.

What This Means for Tenants

A periodic tenancy from day one means never being tied to a fixed term you can't get out of, and 2 months' notice is all it takes to leave. A rent increase has to go through a formal, challengeable process rather than landing as a take-it-or-leave-it demand. And a "no pets," "no DSS," or "no children" line in a listing is no longer a lawful reason to be turned away outright.

How We Approach This

We manage every property we let ourselves — refurbishment through to tenancy — which means the shift to periodic tenancies and evidenced possession grounds changes our paperwork, not our approach. We were never planning to evict a good tenant without a genuine reason, so removing the option someone else might have used doesn't change much for us. If you're weighing up whether to hold UK property directly under this new regime or invest alongside a team that already handles compliance, financing, and tenants day to day, our investors page lays out how that partnership works.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did the Renters' Rights Act actually come into force?

It received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. The main provisions — including the abolition of Section 21, periodic tenancies, and the new rent increase process — commenced on 1 May 2026.

Can my landlord still evict me without a reason?

No. Section 21 "no-fault" evictions are abolished. Any possession claim now has to rely on a specific Section 8 ground, with evidence to support it.

Do I still have a fixed-term tenancy?

No. Every AST — new or already running — converted to a rolling periodic tenancy on 1 May 2026. There's no end date built into the agreement any more.

How often can my rent be increased?

At most once every 12 months, through a formal Section 13 notice giving at least 2 months' notice. Rent review clauses written into the tenancy no longer apply.

Can I challenge a rent increase?

Yes, free of charge, at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). The Tribunal can't set a rent higher than what your landlord proposed, and any change only takes effect from the date of its decision, not backdated.

How much notice does my landlord need to give to sell the property or move in?

Four months, and only after the tenancy has run for at least 12 months. Landlords can't use these grounds to end a tenancy in its first year.

Can my landlord refuse to let me have a pet?

They can't refuse unreasonably, and they have 28 days to respond to a request. A specific, reasonable objection can still apply — a blanket "no pets" policy can't.

Is the PRS database or landlord Ombudsman running yet?

Not as of this guide. Both are expected to launch from late 2026, in a second phase separate from the changes that took effect on 1 May 2026.

Key Takeaways

• Section 21 is abolished — every eviction now needs an evidenced Section 8 ground.
• Fixed-term ASTs are gone; all tenancies are now rolling and periodic.
• Rent increases are limited to once a year via a formal Section 13 notice, challengeable at Tribunal for free.
• Ground 1 and 1A (moving in or selling) need 4 months' notice and can't be used in a tenancy's first year.
• Rent in advance is capped at one month, and bidding above the advertised rent is banned.
• Tenants have a statutory right to request a pet, and "no DSS" or "no children" refusals are unlawful.
• The PRS database, Ombudsman, and Decent Homes Standard are later-phase changes, not yet in force.