Renters’ Rights Act: coming changes for landlords

Before 1 May 2026

From 1 May 2026

Rents are not always published openly. If there are two or more Tenants seeking to rent the same property, offers may increase above the asking rent as the Tenants bid against each other.

All rents must be published, and agreeing to accept a higher rent – especially where there are two potential Tenants putting forward offers – will not be permitted.

Costs and fees can be required by the Landlord within the terms of the lease. There is currently no regulatory requirement for these costs to provide fair value for Tenants, or be controlled/monitored.

The Act requires that all costs and fees be controlled, monitored, and reasonable – these should represent fair value for the Tenant.

Fair value may be difficult for a Landlord to prove, and the introduction of the legislation could increase the number of Tenant enquiries (and disputes) on costs which the Tenant is required to reimburse the Landlord for.

This will include costs such as managing agents and solicitors’ fees, and could mean that Landlords will need to obtain alternative terms from other companies in addition to their usual service providers, or benchmark their fees.

Landlords can refuse to rent to a particular group or type of potential Tenant. For example, some Landlords will not rent to Tenants whose rent is paid for by benefit schemes or may dictate that there are ‘no pets allowed’ without the need to give a reason.

Blanket statements refusing to rent to specific Tenants are no longer permitted – potential Tenants have the right to ask to be considered no matter their circumstances. Additionally, existing Tenants will have the right to ask for permission to keep a pet. Landlords can still refuse, but they must have a ‘good reason’ to do so.

This could be a contentious as a good reason to one Landlord may not be a good reason to another – we are yet to see if/how this requirement may be challenged.

Other than in relation to protected tenancies, rent increases can take place at any time.

Rent increases will be restricted to no more than once every 12 months, with two months’ notice being issued to the Tenant.

Typically, rents deposits are paid for periods of up to 12 months.

Rent deposits will be limited to one month's rent in advance.

This raises credit risk concerns for Landlords, especially when eviction for rent arrears is now restricted to ‘significant rent arrears’.

Consequently, smaller Landlords, or those with mortgages on rented properties, may be exposed to months of financial difficulties before they can start action against their Tenant to recover rent arrears.

We expect to see an increase in requests for rent guarantees to be given by tenants’ friends and family as a means of protection against defaults.

Fixed term tenancies are common, with Tenants agreeing to rent the property for agreed periods (from six months to multiple years).

All tenancies will be periodic – which enables Tenants to leave by providing just two months’ notice for an assured period tenancy, unless a shorter period has been agreed in writing.

Previously, a Landlord could be (relatively) sure of the tenancy being in place for at least six months. Where the Landlord is reliant on their rental income to cover their costs (e.g. repayment of a loan), longer periods of security are obviously preferred. Shorter tenancy periods may result in lenders requiring additional security as predicting when Tenants will leave becomes more difficult as there is only two months’ notice required, at any time.

Evictions can be conducted (without any fault on the part of the Tenant) using a Section 21 notice.

No fault evictions will no longer be available. There are limited legal reasons which will enable Landlords to evict a Tenant, such as if the Landlord is selling their property, or if they are moving into the property to use as their main family home.

Evictions can still be made for rent arrears, but this is now restricted to ‘significant rent arrears’ and will require a Section 8 notice.

‘Significant rent arrears’ has not yet been defined and could be subjective. A Landlord with a single rental property could have financial difficulty much quicker than larger Landlords with multiple properties. We expect a standard or typical period will be adopted, rather than reliance on the definition of ‘Significant’ which will help avoid different approaches being taken by Landlords of varied sizes. If this does not happen, then it could make larger Landlords more attractive to potential Tenants who may perceive larger Landlords will tolerate longer periods of unpaid rent if a Tenant incurs financial difficulties.

Additionally, the depth of financial checks undertaken by Landlords may increase as they seek reassurance that their Tenants have a secure income stream with which they can pay the rent due.