The Renters’ Rights Act: recent changes and what’s still to come
Written by Ted Culley - 12 August 2026
If you remember hearing about a ‘Renters’ Rights Act’ earlier this year but instead of brushing up on how it affected private landlords and tenants you had your head buried in a textbook during exam season, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. The first phase of the Renters Rights Act 2025 (the Act) came into effect on May 1st 2026, altering the landscape of the UK’s private rental sector, and in theory, satisfying the Labour Party’s manifesto commitment to “overhaul the regulation of the private rented sector”.
The Act now prevents landlords from evicting tenants using section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions and now requires landlords to have a proper reason to evict a tenant (i.e. a tenant must be significantly behind on rent or be engaging in anti-social behaviour). Fixed term tenancies have also ended meaning contracts are now entered into on a monthly rolling basis, and the tenant need only provide two months’ notice to end the tenancy. Restrictions on rent increases have also been put in place, with landlords only able to increase rent once a year and must ensure that it does not go above the market rate for similar properties. Steps have also been taken to help more people to keep landlord approved pets.
Later this year, the government has plans to expand the scope of the Act so that it ensures no-fault evictions are no longer possible in the social housing sector. A private sector landlord database will also be created, and private sector housing rental ombudsman will also be setup.
So, besides the new rights that tenants have received, what implications have we seen for the private market since the plan for implementing the Act was announced last November? In July, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee acknowledged that as a result of increased administrative, compliance costs landlords may end up “modifying their portfolios or withdrawing from the market completely) or repurposing their properties for another market (e.g. short-term lets). There is, therefore, the risk that these reforms exacerbate problems with the supply and affordability of privately rented homes.”
REalyse, a data analytics company specialising in the UK housing market, recently published a set of data that appears to vindicate the concerns of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee. According to REalyse, the number of rental properties listings fell by 20% year-on-year when comparing the 12 months to June 2026 against the 12 months to June 2025. The average number of days rental listings were listed also fell dramatically from 51.6 days in November 2025 to just 17.3 days in June 2026.
More positively, data from the Office for National Statistics indicated that UK monthly private rent inflation is slowing, though average monthly rent did increase by 3.3%, to £1,383, in the 12 months between May 2025 and May 2026.
Whilst we’d fully expect a few busy law students to have missed the Renters’ Rights Act, (especially as purpose-built student housing is one notable exception to the ending of fixed term tenancy rules), many renters were still in the dark just before the Act came into effect and may well still be in the dark about its significance.
A study by TDS Charitable Foundation in March 2026 found that almost four in five renters had not heard of the Act and only 32% could say that they fully or partially understood the Act. Awareness should have at least marginally improved since then, however, as landlords were required to provide tenants with an information sheet detailing their new rights by the 31st of May 2026 or risk a £7,000 fine.