These are some of the biggest reforms to landlord and tenant law in England for nearly 40 years.
We look below at what the changes will mean for existing and new tenancies, and how landlords, tenants and their respective agents and advisers can start preparing for the new tenancy system.
The key takeaways
· The RRA 2025 will make significant changes to the private rental sector in England, including by abolishing assured shorthold tenancies, fixed term tenancies and section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions.· The Act became law in October 2025 but secondary legislation is required to bring its provisions into force.
· The government’s roadmap indicates that the RRA 2025 will be implemented in three phases.
· The provisions will start to come into force for the private rented sector in Phase 1 on 1 May 2026.
· The current law will continue to apply until that date, giving landlords a short window in which to seek possession if they wish to do so.
· Where valid notices seeking possession are served under the Housing Act 1988 before 1 May 2026, and possession proceedings are started by 31 July 2026, the new reforms will not apply to those tenancies.
· Otherwise, existing tenancies will convert to the new tenancy system on 1 May 2026 and any new tenancies that are granted on or after that date will be subject to the new regime.
· All those involved in the private rented sector should keep an eye on government guides that will be updated as we near the commencement date.
What changes will the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 bring about?
The main purpose of the RRA 2025 is to address a perceived imbalance in the private rented sector, to give tenants greater access to secure and decent homes and improve their ability to exercise rights to challenge poor treatment and bad practices.As the title of the legislation suggests, this is about improving the lot for renters. Only time will tell what corresponding impact the reforms will have on landlords and the wider residential property market.
The key provisions of the RRA 2025 so far as they apply to private landlords and tenants in England are:
· All tenancies will be periodic assured tenancies, rolling on a monthly or shorter basis - assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) will cease to exist, and there will be no more fixed terms.
· So called ‘no-fault’ evictions under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) will be abolished.
· The grounds for possession landlords must prove when seeking to recover possession under the section 8 procedure under the HA 1988, are changing - new grounds are being introduced, some existing grounds will be widened and safeguards will prevent landlords misusing the amended grounds.
· The notice periods required when relying on certain grounds for possession are also changing.
· Landlords will need to give a written statement of the terms of the tenancy before the tenancy is entered into.
· Deposits will need to be protected before possession orders can be made under the section 8 procedure, which is not currently the case.
· Landlords will not be able to demand large amounts of rent in advance, instead being restricted to requiring up to one month’s rent only at the start of the tenancy.
· Private landlords will not be able to rely on contractual rent review clauses but will instead have to use the statutory process to increase the rent, which cannot exceed the open market rate.
· Tenants will be able to terminate assured tenancies by giving two months' notice.
· Tenants will have a right to request permission to keep a pet that landlords cannot unreasonably refuse.
· It will be unlawful for landlords to discriminate against prospective tenants in receipt of benefits or with children.
· It will no longer be possible for long residential leases (with a fixed term of more than 21 years) to be assured tenancies.
· Rental bidding wars will be ended, by requiring landlords and agents to publish an asking rent and making it illegal to accept offers made above this rate.
· Landlords will be required to register themselves and their properties on a new Private Rented Sector Database (PRS Database).
· Landlords will be required to join a new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman Service (PRS Landlord Ombudsman) to deal with tenants’ complaints.
· The ‘Decent Homes Standard’ will be extended to apply to the private rented sector, ensuring properties meet minimum levels of repair and safety.
· ‘Awaab’s Law’ will also be extended to the private rented sector, requiring health hazards to be investigated and fixed in a timely manner.
· Local housing authorities’ enforcement powers will be strengthened, with increased civil penalties and investigatory powers.
· The circumstances in which Rent Repayment Orders can be made (which require landlords who commit specified offences to repay rent to tenants) will be extended, and the maximum financial penalty will double.
When will the tenancy reforms come into force?
The government has published an implementation roadmap which states that the new tenancy regime will be brought into force in three phases:Phase 1 - most of the key changes set out above will come into force for the private rented sector on 1 May 2026. This will include the measures that abolish ASTs and section 21 notices and that relate to the grounds for possession, rent increases, rental bidding, rent in advance, anti-discrimination and pet requests.
Phase 2 - it will be mandatory for landlords to sign-up to the new PRS Database from late 2026. It appears that providing essential safety information (gas safety, electrical and energy performance certificates) will be a condition of entry onto, and remaining on, the new PRS Database, which will be crucial given that a failure to have an active entry on the Database will prevent courts from making possession orders under the section 8 procedure. Also in Phase 2, most of the reforms will be extended to the social rented sector from a date in 2027. It will only become mandatory for private landlords to sign-up to the new PRS Landlord Ombudsman from a date in 2028.
Phase 3 - the Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law will be implemented for the private rented sector, but no date has yet been given for this.
What is the position before 1 May 2026?
The tenancy reforms under the RRA 2025 will only begin to come into force from 1 May 2026.The existing law will continue to apply up to and including 30 April 2026. It will therefore still be possible to serve section 21 notices and section 8 notices under the HA 1988 as normal until then.
The government has said that it will be conducting a communications campaign for landlords and tenants between now and 1 May 2026. It has already published a suite of guides at GOV.UK: Renting out your property: guidance for landlords and letting agents. It will be important to keep an eye on these because further detail will be added to them in the run up to implementation.
What if a section 21 or section 8 notice is served before 1 May 2026?
The RRA 2026 contains transitional provisions that will apply to assured shorthold tenancies that exist immediately before 1 May 2026, including what happens if a valid section 21 or section 8 notice has already been served before that date.The key point is that, where a valid section 21 or section 8 notice has already been served, landlords will have until 31 July 2026 at the latest to commence possession proceedings at court if they have not done so already.
We say “at the latest” because section 21 and section 8 notices already have a shelf-life. For many section 21 notices, possession proceedings have to be brought within six months of the date of service. For section 8 notices, the long-stop date is 12 months from the date of service. It is therefore possible that possession proceedings may need to be started by a long-stop date that expires even before 31 July 2026 depending on when the notice was served.
If a valid section 21 or 8 notice is served before 1 May 2026, and possession proceedings are started at court by 31 July 2026 (or by any earlier long-stop date), the key tenancy reforms will not apply and the tenancy will remain an assured shorthold tenancy until the conclusion of the court proceedings.
If court possession proceedings are not started in time, or they are but the claim is unsuccessful for some reason, the tenancy will continue as a periodic assured tenancy subject to the new regime.
What is the position from 1 May 2026?
If the transitional provisions do not apply (for example, because no section 21 or section 8 notice has been served at all), existing assured shorthold tenancies will convert to periodic assured tenancies on 1 May 2026 and they will be subject to the tenancy reforms set out above.One immediate task that landlords of existing tenancies need be aware of is that they will be required to provide tenants with certain information about the changes made by the RRA 2025 on or before 31 May 2026. Where there is a written tenancy agreement, landlords will need to give the tenant an ‘Information Sheet’ (to be published by the government in the coming months). Where there is no written agreement, they will need to provide a written statement of the terms of the tenancy.
Any new tenancy that is granted on or after 1 May 2026 will be a periodic assured tenancy from the outset, and subject to the RRA 2025 reforms.
Where the new regime applies, it will from 1 May 2026 only be possible for landlords to recover possession using the section 8 notice procedure, relying on one or more of the amended grounds for possession.
There are too many grounds to mention here, but it is worth noting that the amount of rent that will need to be due before mandatory Ground 8 can be used is to increase to 3 months’ rent where rent is payable monthly, and the length of notice for all of the rent arrears grounds will increase from two to four weeks’ notice.
In addition, Ground 1 - where the landlord wishes to recover possession for themselves, a spouse or civil partner - is being widened to include other family members, and a new Ground 1A is being introduced enabling landlords to recover possession in order to sell the property.
A new section 8 notice will also need to be used from 1 May 2026. The government has said that it will publish the new prescribed form before this date, which will be called Form 3A.
What happens next?
For landlords looking to recover possession of premises currently let out on assured shorthand tenancies, or tenants who are served with notices requiring possession before 1 May 2026, it will be vital to take early advice to check that the landlord is actually entitled to seek possession. There are numerous traps that landlords can fall into, and we are likely to see an increase in the number of cases in which section 21 notices in particular are subject to technical and procedural challenges.Where possession is not sought before 1 May 2026, we can help explain how the new rights and obligations under the RRA 2025 will apply to your tenancy from that date, the amended grounds for possession and the circumstances in which the court will be prevented from making possession orders.
The future of private rented tenancies will look very different from 1 May 2026 and the time to start preparing is now.
Speak to a specialist solicitor
If you have any concerns, please speak to our residential property disputes specialist Philip Copley, or email us at hello@hagenwolf.co.uk.
