Renters' Rights Act: what's happening and when?

In a recent press release the UK government confirmed that it will 'switch on' provisions of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 on 1 May 2026, in the first of three implementation phases.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) implementation roadmap sets out the following timeline for the private rented sector (PRS) reforms.

• Phase 1 (1 May 2026): abolish assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) and section 21 notices and create assured monthly periodic tenancies in the PRS. The act's provisions on rent increases, a ban on accepting more than one month's rent in advance and rental bidding will also come into force, together with a right for a tenant to request consent to keep a pet and a ban on discrimination.
• Phase 2 (late 2026): implement provisions relating to the creation of a PRS database and establish a PRS Landlord Ombudsman.
• Phase 3 (2035 or 2037): introduce the Decent Homes Standard to the PRS.

MHCLG's advance notice of the act's first implementation phase aims to provide sufficient time for landlords and letting agents to prepare effectively and for the necessary implementing regulations to be made.

Notice periods will be altered, varying between two weeks and up to four months' notice, and there will be additional restrictions placed on landlords preventing rental bidding, banning discrimination against renters who have children or receive benefits and prohibiting more than one month's rent being paid in advance. However, this does not apply to tenancies entered into before 1 May 2026.

Landlords will be required to comply with additional duties such as holding a genuine belief that possession can be obtained on a relevant ground and providing a written statement of terms of the tenancy to a tenant before the tenancy is entered into.

For ASTs converting to assured monthly periodic tenancies, an information sheet will need to be served by 28 May 2026. In addition, local authorities will have powers to impose fines for non-compliance.

Tenants will have the right to request the landlord's consent to keep a pet, and such consent is not to be unreasonably withheld.

Rent increases traditionally occurred between fixed-term ASTs. These will now occur up to once per year via a process that currently exists but was rarely used. The landlord can serve a notice of increase of rent proposing a new rent to take effect not earlier than two months after service of the notice.

A tenant can challenge the proposed rent in a notice of increase of rent or within the first six months of the tenancy/conversion to an assured tenancy by applying to the First-tier Tribunal (FTT). 

The FTT will then determine the rent, which is either the open-market rent (if lower than the proposed rent) or the proposed rent. The new rent takes effect after the FTT decision, but the Renters' Rights Act gives the secretary of state powers to make regulations to change the effective date of a rent increase.

The secondary commencement legislation has not yet been published and will need to be considered carefully as it will likely contain further details on, among other important matters:

• new prescribed forms for a notice of increase of rent
• the information sheet that landlords will need to provide to tenants on conversion of their tenancy from an AST to an assured monthly periodic tenancy.

Phase 2 will introduce the PRS Database and PRS Landlord Ombudsman. Much of the detail behind these elements will be in the secondary legislation that will need to be published in advance of Phase 2, particularly around what information landlords must provide to obtain an active listing on the database.

While development of the Landlord Ombudsman service will commence in late 2026, it is not expected to be open for business until 2028.

Phase 3 will involve the extension of the Decent Homes Standard to the PRS, likely in 2035 or 2037. The standard currently applies only to social homes and includes requirements to keep properties in a reasonable state of repair, have reasonably modern facilities and be free of major hazards such as mould or asbestos.

These will be needed to, among other things, implement the abolition of section 21 notices and the introduction of assured periodic tenancies for new and existing tenancies; for existing tenancies, landlords can continue to serve section 21 notices up to 30 April 2026.

Under transitional provisions in the act, a landlord will be able to issue possession proceedings relying on a section 21 notice provided that those proceedings are issued within the validity period of the section 21 notice (i.e. within six months of the service of the section 21 notice) or by 31 July 2026 if that date ends before the six-month validity period of the section 21 notice.

A version of this article was previously published by Charles Russell Speechlys in November 2025. The article reflects the law and market position at the date of publication and is written as a general guide. It does not contain definitive legal advice, which should be sought in relation to any specific matter.