The Renters’ Rights Act finally come into force from 1 May 2026. If you already had a tenancy in the private rented sector, you may be wondering how the new law will affect you. Our blog post explains some of the key changes for you if you have a tenancy that started before 1 May.
Assured Periodic Tenancies
All Assured Shorthold Tenancies that started before 1 May are now automatically assured periodic tenancies. The exception to this is if your landlord issued a valid notice of possession before 1 May, in which case the old rules will apply.
An assured periodic tenancy is rolling, so your tenancy now runs indefinitely, usually on a monthly basis, with no set end date. Even if you were in the middle of a fixed-term tenancy, your tenancy will now automatically become rolling.
Tenancy agreements
Your landlord doesn’t need to create a new tenancy agreement, but they need to give you the government’s official Information Sheet outlining the Renters’ Rights Act and how the changes will affect you. They need to give you this Information Sheet by 31 May at the latest.
If you didn’t have a written tenancy agreement before 1 May (i.e. you had a verbal agreement), your landlord now needs to give you written terms of your tenancy.
Rent increases
If your landlord wants to increase your rent, they now need to use a Section 13 notice to start the process – even if your tenancy agreement previously included a ‘rent review’ clause, or they’ve informally discussed the increase with you. They can also only raise your rent once every 12 months (since the last rent increase).
The Section 13 notice needs to give you 2 months’ notice of the proposed rent increase.
You can challenge the Section 13 notice if you think the rent increase is unreasonable. You’ll need to apply to challenge the increase before the start date of the new rent.
Challenging the rent increase involves applying to the first-tier tribunal, which sets a ‘market rent’ – i.e. the amount of rent they think is normal for the market. This will depend on the size, condition, location of the property, amongst other factors.
It’s worth noting that challenging a rent increase carries significantly less risk than before because:
- The tribunal will not be able to set a rent that is higher than what your landlord proposed
- The start date of the new rent will be from the date of the tribunal’s decision (and this can take a long time)
- Your landlord can’t use a Section 21 notice to evict you for challenging the rent increase.
However, if you received a Section 13 notice before 1 May, there may be much higher risks to challenging it.
Pets
If you want to keep a pet, you now have the right to request one from your landlord. Your landlord must consider the request fairly, and can’t unreasonably refuse. For example, it might be unreasonable for them to refuse on the basis that they don’t like animals, or they’re concerned about the damage it might cause. It might be reasonable for them to refuse because a superior landlord has banned pets, or because there are other tenants who are allergic to animals.
If you think your landlord refused unreasonably, you can challenge this.
Rent Repayment Orders
There is now an expanded number of offences committed by a landlord for which you can claim a rent repayment order. A rent repayment order allows you to receive up to 2 years’ worth of rent from a landlord.
New offences that are subject to a rent repayment order include:
- Knowingly or recklessly misusing a possession ground
- Letting or marketing the property within 12 months’ of using the ‘moving in’ or ‘selling’ reason to claim possession.
If you rent your home under a rent-to-rent arrangement, or from joint landlords, you can apply ofr a rent repayment order against any or all of your landlords if you think they have committed an offence.
Ending your tenancy
If you want to end your tenancy, you’ll need to give your landlord 2 months’ notice.
If your landlord wants to evict you, they will now need to provide a valid reason to do so, using the Section 8 process. Previously, they were able to use the Section 21 process, where they didn’t need to provide a reason. Now, the kinds of reasons they might use to evict you are (but not limited to):
- They or their family member(s) want to move into your property
- They want to sell the property
- You have rent arrears
- You live in a student-only HMO and they want to get a new set of students into the property in line with the academic year
- You have committed anti-social behaviour
Your landlord will need to prove that the reason they’ve used is legitimate if you go to court.
If they use the ‘moving in’ or ‘selling’ reason, they won’t be able to re-let the property for 12 months.
