Timeline and Roadmap for the Implementation of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025
Private landlords and tenants need to take stock and prepare for the forthcoming changes introduced by the Renters' Rights Act 2025.
In this article, our Landlord and Tenant Solicitors explain the date to prepare for and what landlords and tenants need to consider.
Contact OTS Solicitors Today for Expert Landlord and Tenant Legal Advice.
Key dates and the Renters' Rights Act 2025
So far, Landlord and Tenant Solicitors can talk about two key dates:
- 27 October 2025 – the Renters' Rights Bill received Royal Assent.
- 1 May 2026 – the implementation date for some sections of the Renters' Rights Act.
The government says that the clauses in the Act not scheduled to be implemented on 1 May 2026 will be phased in. There is no clear timetable for the phasing. That’s frustrating for tenants and Tenant Solicitors, particularly as many of the provisions not yet scheduled for implementation relate to housing disrepair.
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 and 1 May 2026
Whether you are a private landlord, letting agent, managing agent or tenant, you need to know what is happening on 1 May 2026.
It is D-Day for some key parts of the 2025 Act.
On 1 May 2026:
- No-fault evictions and Section 21 notices will end.
- New possession grounds will allow landlords to start possession proceedings to evict tenants if the landlord wants to sell or live in their property. However, additional protections are being put in place for tenants: landlords cannot evict a tenant on these grounds in the first 12 months of the tenancy agreement, and landlords must give their tenant four months’ notice of their intention to start possession proceedings on these grounds.
- If a landlord wants to obtain possession for rent arrears on Ground 8, the rent arrears period will increase to 13 weeks, instead of two months.
- Tenants will be able to use the defence of benefit delays in rent arrears possession claims to try to avoid eviction.
- Private tenancies will become periodic assured tenancies. Non-exempt fixed-term tenancies will become monthly or weekly periodic tenancies with no end date until either the landlord or tenant serves notice.
- Notice periods for tenants to end their private assured tenancies will increase to two months' notice, instead of one month's notice. Tenants will not be tied into fixed-term tenancies and will no longer have to stress about timing a house purchase or job move with the end of a fixed-term tenancy agreement. Tenants should be able to avoid the double expense of rent and mortgage when they buy a property after renting, or the double rental costs if they move between rental properties.
- Notice periods for landlords to end tenancy agreements will change for some possession claims.
- With new rent review rules, landlords will not be able to contractually increase their tenant’s rent using contractual terms in the tenancy agreement. Instead, landlords and tenants will be subject to a statutory rent review process under the Housing Act 1988.
- Rent increase reviews will not be permitted in the first 12 months of the tenancy agreement. Thereafter, any rent reviews will be limited to one a year. Tenants will be able to challenge the proposed rent increase.
- Requiring payment of more than one month’s rent in advance to let a property will not be allowed, even if a tenant volunteers to pay the rent upfront to try to secure a tenancy agreement. It remains to be seen how these 1 May 2026 changes will affect the ability of some tenants to secure rental property, such as those on a low income but with capital in the bank after a divorce or inheritance. That’s because landlords will be able to refuse to accept a tenant based on the tenant’s income and ability to afford the rent without the landlord having the corresponding ability to accept rent advances to overcome their reluctance to accept a tenant on a low income, where there is a genuine issue over the tenant’s likely ability to afford the rent out of their declared income.
- Fixed rents must be listed when making a property available for rent, rather than the previous practice, in some London boroughs, of encouraging a bidding war between tenants to secure scarce rental property.
- Tenant selection and discrimination are banned from 1 May 2026, as landlords and their agents will not be able to refuse to accept prospective tenants because they have children or are in receipt of state benefits.
- Tenants with pets will get the right to ask their landlord for permission to have a pet, and their landlord will not be able to refuse the request unreasonably.
Renters' Rights Act – aspects awaiting implementation
Although 1 May 2026 is the start date for many key provisions of the Renters' Rights Act, some clauses do not have a commencement date. They are:
- Disrepair
- Awaab’s law in private sector rentals.
- The decent homes standard for private rental agreements.
- Private landlord ombudsman to deal with complaints about private landlords.
- The private landlord database and the requirement for all private landlords to sign it.
Getting ready for 1 May 2026
Whether you are a private landlord needing advice on whether to issue a Section 21 notice before 1 May 2026, a lettings agent needing bespoke training on how the new legislation will affect landlord obligations and tenant rights, or a tenant wanting to know when the mould will be removed without delay you need to speak to a specialist Landlord and Tenant Solicitor for expert legal advice.
For some of the 2+ million landlords and 11 million tenants in England, the advice will be to do nothing and sit it out until after 1 May 2026. For others, including private landlords or tenants on low incomes, the legal advice may be to act quickly. Businesses in the field of letting and letting management, and their employees, need to understand how the Renters' Rights Act provides protections to tenants, enhances tenant rights, increases landlord obligations, and outlines the consequences of non-compliance.
Contact OTS Solicitors For Landlord and Tenant Legal Advice on the Renters' Rights Act.
Appointments are available at our offices in central London, by phone, or via online consultation.
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