Renters' Rights Act 2025: A Landlord's Guide

If you let property in England, the rules changed under your feet on 1 May 2026. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 is now in force, and it's the biggest overhaul of private renting in a generation.

Section 21 "no fault" evictions are gone. Fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies have converted to open-ended periodic tenancies. Rent increases now follow one route only. And there's an immediate job on your desk: most landlords must hand existing tenants a government information sheet by 31 May 2026 or risk a fine.

This guide walks you through what's already in force, what's still coming, and the practical steps to stay compliant. It's written for individual and portfolio landlords in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own separate systems, so none of this applies there.

We'll keep it plain. Where money and record-keeping cross into your tax position, we'll flag it, because the two are now more tangled than ever.

What is the Renters' Rights Act 2025?

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. It delivers the government's commitment to reform England's private rented sector, building on earlier reform proposals that never made it onto the statute book.

The headline measures are the abolition of Section 21 evictions and the end of fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs). Under the new system, tenancies are open-ended periodic arrangements with no built-in end date.

The new tenancy system applies to new and existing tenancies at the same time. The government's stated aim was to avoid a confusing two-tier market and let all tenants benefit from the new protections at once.

Note the name. It's the Renters' Rights Act 2025, even though the main reforms started biting in 2026. You'll see "2026" used loosely online, but the legislation itself carries the 2025 year.

When did the changes take effect?

The reforms roll out in phases. Here's where things stand.

Phase 1 is the big one, and it's already live. If you let in England, the new tenancy rules apply to you right now.

There's also a near-term deadline you can't miss. Most existing tenants must be given the government's official Renters' Rights Act information sheet by 31 May 2026. If your tenancy is purely verbal with no written record, you must instead give the tenant written information about the key terms by the same date. Miss it and you could face a fine of up to £7,000. The exact PDF and guidance are on gov.uk; you must send the actual document, not a link to it.

What does the Section 21 ban mean for landlords?

Section 21 let landlords end an assured shorthold tenancy without giving a reason, once any fixed term had passed. That option no longer exists. Any Section 21 notice purportedly served on or after 1 May 2026 is invalid.

To regain possession now, you need a valid legal ground under the Section 8 process. The grounds include:

• Serious rent arrears
• Antisocial behaviour
• Breach of the tenancy agreement
• The landlord wants to sell the property
• The landlord or a close family member wants to move in
• The property is needed for demolition or major works

Two of these come with important limits. If you want to sell or move in, you can't use that ground during the first 12 months of the tenancy (the protected period), and you must give the tenant four months' notice. The full list of grounds and the notice period for each is published on gov.uk.

In practice, the change most landlords feel is the loss of a simple, no-reason exit. From now on, possession depends on having a documented ground and following the process. Your paperwork matters more than it ever did.

What does a Section 8 eviction look like now?

With Section 21 gone, Section 8 is the route. The exact notice period depends on the ground. Serious rent arrears carry a short notice period; selling or moving in needs four months.

Once notice expires, if the tenant hasn't left you apply to the county court for a possession order, then if necessary for bailiff enforcement. Timescales vary widely by court and by the strength of your evidence, so treat any single figure with caution.

Illustrative example: a possession claim for rent arrears

This is a hypothetical to show the shape of the process, not a real case or a guaranteed timeline.

Imagine James lets a flat and his tenant falls into arrears. He can't act on the strongest arrears ground until the arrears are serious enough to qualify, so he keeps dated records of every missed payment and every reminder. Once the threshold is met, he serves a Section 8 notice citing the relevant ground.

After the notice period expires without payment, James applies to court for a possession order. He pays the court fee and, because he wants the evidence presented properly, instructs a solicitor. There's then a wait for a hearing, which can run to several months depending on the local court's backlog.

If the judge grants possession and the tenant still doesn't leave, James applies for bailiff enforcement, which adds further weeks.

The point of the example is simple. Throughout that period, the rent isn't being paid but the mortgage and costs keep coming. That's why clean documentation and early action matter so much under the new system. We don't quote a fixed "average" timeline here because court waiting times genuinely vary, and an out-of-date figure would mislead you more than help.

What are periodic tenancies and how do they work?

Under the old system most lets were fixed-term ASTs, commonly 12 months, that rolled into a periodic tenancy only if the tenant stayed on. The Act makes tenancies periodic from the start.

A periodic tenancy has no end date. It simply continues until someone ends it properly.

• Tenants can end the tenancy by giving two months' notice, at any time. There's no minimum term locking them in.
• Landlords can only end it through the Section 8 process with a valid ground. For selling or moving in, the 12-month protected period and four months' notice apply.

For you, that means dropping the assumption that a tenancy "runs out" after a year. It doesn't. If you need the property back, you follow the formal process with documented grounds.

Your tenancy agreements need updating to match. Strip out fixed terms and end dates, revise rent-review wording so it relies on the statutory route, drop any blanket pet ban or discriminatory clause, and add clear information on the grounds for possession. For new tenancies from 1 May 2026, you must give the tenant a written statement of terms at the start.

How are rent increases limited now?

There's now a single, standardised route for raising the rent.

• You can increase the rent once per year only.
• The increase must be to the market rate, broadly the price the property would be advertised at if empty.
• You must use a Section 13 notice and give at least two months' notice.

This matters because rent-review clauses, the kind that baked in an automatic annual rise or an inflation-linked increase, no longer do the job. The statutory Section 13 route is the mechanism.

Tenants can challenge an increase at the First-tier Tribunal if they think it's above market rate. The tribunal looks at comparable local rents and the condition of the property, and a tenant will never end up paying more than the figure you asked for. So keeping evidence of genuine comparable rents in your area is sensible before you serve a notice.

There's also a cap on rent in advance. Once a tenancy agreement is signed, you can ask for up to one month's rent in advance (or 28 days' rent where the rental period is shorter than a month). The days of requesting several months upfront are over.

These rules change how rental income lands, and that has knock-on effects for your numbers. If you're modelling cash flow or your tax position across a portfolio, our income tax calculator is a quick way to sense-check the effect of a changed rent roll, and our tax advisory service can help you plan around longer void periods.

What new tenant rights apply?

Phase 1 brought in several protections alongside the headline changes.

Pet requests. You can't unreasonably refuse a tenant's request to keep a pet, and you must consider each request on its merits within 28 days. You can still say no where there's a genuine reason, for example a freeholder's lease prohibits pets. Blanket "no pets" policies are out.

Bidding ban. You and your agent must publish an asking rent and can't invite or accept offers above it. No more rental bidding wars.

Discrimination ban. It's now illegal to discriminate against prospective tenants because they receive benefits or have children. "No DSS" and "no children" adverts are unlawful. You can still reference tenants and assess affordability, but that has to be applied consistently and on genuine financial criteria, not used as a back door to the same discrimination.

What are the penalties for getting it wrong?

The enforcement framework has real teeth, and local councils gained stronger investigatory powers from 27 December 2025.

Rent Repayment Orders have been toughened too. The maximum repayment period has doubled from 12 to 24 months, and repeat offenders must pay the maximum amount.

The £7,000 figure is the one to keep front of mind this week, because it's the penalty attached to missing the 31 May 2026 information-sheet duty.

What's still coming: ombudsman, database and standards

Two more pieces arrive in Phase 2, expected from late 2026:

• The Private Rented Sector Database. Mandatory registration of landlords and properties, holding contact details and safety information such as gas, electrical and energy performance certificates.
• The Landlord Ombudsman. A free dispute-resolution service for tenants, with membership expected to become mandatory for landlords. The government has indicated full mandatory membership is planned for a later date, so watch for confirmed timings rather than acting on guesses about fees.

Phase 3, with dates still to be confirmed, will extend Awaab's Law (timeframes for dealing with hazards such as damp and mould) and a modernised Decent Homes Standard to private rentals. The detail and timeline will be confirmed through consultation, so we won't state requirements as settled until they are.

The sensible move is to bring your properties up to a good standard now rather than scramble when the standard lands.

How should landlords prepare?

A focused checklist beats a panic. Here's where to put your effort.

1. Handle the 31 May 2026 deadline first. Give existing tenants the official information sheet, or written key terms for verbal tenancies, using the exact gov.uk document.
2. Update your tenancy agreements. Remove fixed terms, fix the rent-increase wording to rely on Section 13, drop blanket pet bans and any discriminatory clauses, and add the grounds for possession.
3. Tighten your documentation. Dated inventories with photos, written communications, inspection records and clean rent-and-arrears tracking are now central to any possession claim.
4. Set a rent-increase routine. One increase a year, market rate, Section 13 notice, two months' notice. Keep evidence of comparable local rents on file.
5. Plan financially. Budget for potentially longer void periods, higher legal costs if you ever need possession, and future ombudsman and database costs once those phases land.
6. Review your property standards. Tackle damp, mould, heating, electrical and fire-safety issues ahead of the Decent Homes Standard arriving.

Good record-keeping isn't just about compliance with the Act. It's the same discipline that keeps your rental accounts and self-assessment clean, especially with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax starting to phase in for landlords from April 2026.

Letting in England and want this off your plate? Zmartly's accountants work with landlords every day, from rental accounts and self-assessment to planning around void periods and portfolio cash flow. Talk to a Zmartly accountant for landlords and we'll help you keep the numbers and the records in order while the rules settle.

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