The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 is a comprehensive piece of legislation that significantly changes the rights of most private tenants in England (not the whole of the UK) giving them more stability and security, and empowering them to challenge bad landlord practice without the threat of being evicted.
It is being implemented in stages, with the key provisions having come into force from 1st May 2026.
This Act also gives local authorities increased powers to investigate breaches of the law, and to impose hefty civil penalties.
In this article, our expert team of advisers at PIL Southampton explains the changes this new Act brings, and what these changes mean to private tenants, to landlords and to letting agents.
Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) have been abolished and have been replaced with Assured Periodic Tenancies (APTs). This gives tenants greater protection from being evicted, and more rights in general. APTs work on a rolling monthly or weekly basis, with no set end date.
The new Renters’ Rights Act has replaced fixed term tenancies with rolling periodic tenancies, that make it easier for a tenant to exit their tenancy by giving notice.
With the move to periodic tenancies, break clauses will now be largely redundant going forward.
A landlord used to be able to evict a tenant with no reason, by serving a section 21 notice. These ‘no-fault’ evictions have been abolished. However, the new rules are fairer on both sides; landlords can only evict tenants when they have a specific, legally valid reason, and these have been extended to make it easier for landlords to evict tenants under particular circumstances, which we cover later in this article.
Note: if a tenant was served a valid section 21 eviction notice before 1st May 2026, they could still be evicted.
If a landlord wants to evict a tenant, they can serve a section 8 notice, which must include a legal reason for the eviction.
A legal reason – referred to as a ‘ground’ – to evict a tenant would be if they owe rent or if the landlord is selling the property. The section 8 eviction notice has to give the tenant the ground the landlord is using, and the amount of notice the tenant is given will depend on the ground. Notice periods vary depending on the ground for possession and may differ under the new legislation.
New grounds for eviction that could be invoked through the new Act include if the landlord or their family member wants to move in, or if the tenant is a student with a private tenancy.
If the tenant doesn’t vacate the property at the end of the eviction notice period, the landlord must apply for a court order, demonstrating why the tenant should be evicted. If the court doesn’t agree, they can sometimes stop the eviction from being carried out.
There used to be no limit on the amount of advance rent a landlord could request from their new tenant. Now, they are legally restricted to only taking one month’s rent in advance and then only after the contract has been signed. If they ask for – or accept – more, they could get fined by their local council.
Note: Landlords can now only charge rent for up to one calendar month at a time.
Also, rental bidding has been banned. Landlords/letting agents must include a specific rent amount when they are advertising the property, and they aren’t allowed to ask for, encourage or accept a higher offer than the amount they stated.
Landlords must now give at least two months’ notice of a rent increase, and must use a section 13 notice when they do so. Before this, landlords only had to give one month’s notice of a rent increase.
There will also a limit on rent increases – even if the tenancy agreement says the landlord can use a rent review clause. Going forwards it will be illegal for a landlord to increase the rent more than once a year, and they can’t increase the rent within the first 12 months of someone’s tenancy.
If a tenant feels that the rent increase is too high, they can go to the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) within the statutory timeframe set out in the Section 13 notice. The Tribunal can set a lower rent if they agree that the increase is too high.
Note: A landlord cannot evict a tenant for challenging a rent increase.
The general rule is to give two months’ notice if a tenant wants to exit their tenancy. If the tenancy agreement states a shorter notice period, the tenant can follow that timeframe. And if the landlord agrees to a shorter notice period that’s fine too, but it must be in writing.
The new assured tenancy agreements give tenants more rights than they used to have. These stronger rights apply even if the tenancy agreement still says ‘assured shorthold’. The tenant doesn’t need to take any action to get this changed.
Landlords are now legally obliged to give their tenants specific written information about their tenancy rights.
There is no standard tenancy agreement form but, however the landlord decides to present it, the tenancy agreement needs to include:
– names and contact details for the landlord and tenant/s
– the address of the property
– the tenancy’s start date
– what rent and bills are included in the tenancy
– the deposit amount
– information regarding ending the tenancy and the eviction process.
It also needs to reference the following information, which are the tenant’s rights by law:
– repair rights
– electrical safety checks every five years
– the right to certain disability adaptions
– annual gas safety checks
– the right to ask to keep a pet.
Before the tenancy start date, the landlord needs to provide the tenant with an energy performance certificate (EPC), the most recent gas certificate, and information about the deposit and which deposit protection scheme it’s registered with.
A landlord cannot refuse to rent their property to a tenant because they have children or they claim benefits. If a landlord breaks these rules, and they attempt to discriminate against particular prospective tenants, i.e. withholding information, blocking them from viewing or refusing to grant them a tenancy, the local council can fine the landlord and/or letting agent.
Before the Renters’ Rights Act, landlords could forbid a tenant from having a pet in the property they are renting out. Now, they can only say no to a tenant having a pet living there if they have a good reason.
To have their pet live with them, the tenant needs to ask their landlord for permission, in writing. In this written request, they need to describe the pet. The landlord usually has 28 days to reply, also in writing.
If a landlord still has a ‘No pets’ clause in their tenancy agreement this can be ignored as it’s no longer allowed.
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