Renters’ Rights Act UK 2026: Landlord Checklist

What the Renters' Rights Act 2025 changed

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 became law on 27 October 2025, and its main changes for private landlords in England started on 1 May 2026. It's the biggest change to renting since the Housing Act 1988, and it's now the rules you let under, not something on the way.

In short: Section 21 has gone, every tenancy now rolls month to month, you need a legal reason (a ground) to get your property back, and the way you choose tenants and raise the rent has changed. A few parts arrive later, such as the landlord register, the ombudsman and the Decent Homes Standard, and this guide says when.

Here's what changed, and what to check on each property.

Change 1: Section 21 has gone

You can't end a tenancy with a "no fault" Section 21 notice any more. None could be served from 1 May 2026, and a notice served before then had to be used by starting a court claim by 31 July 2026. That window has now closed.

What it means for you:

• To get your property back you need a ground from Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988, served on a Section 8 notice (Form 3A).
• The ones most landlords use: rent arrears (Grounds 8, 10 and 11), moving in yourself or a close family member (Ground 1), and selling (Ground 1A).

Check: if your rent guarantee insurance or your solicitor's terms still talk about Section 21, ask what they now cover under Section 8.

From £7.99 a month, LetCompliance keeps the rent ledger an arrears notice starts from, and on paid plans drafts the Section 8 notice on Form 3A with the grounds in full GOV.UK wording and the notice period and arrears worked out, then tracks each date to possession. Get started

Change 2: every tenancy now rolls month to month

On 1 May 2026 every assured shorthold tenancy became an assured periodic tenancy. It runs from one rent period to the next with no end date, and a fixed term written into a new agreement has no effect.

What it means for you:

• The tenant can leave at any time by giving you 2 months' notice in writing.
• You can only end the tenancy with a ground. A break clause or an end date does nothing.
• Rent goes up once a year at most, with a Section 13 notice (Form 4A) and at least two months' notice. Rent review clauses no longer count, and the tribunal can't set a rent higher than the one you proposed.

Check: use a periodic agreement for every new let. Old agreements don't need re-signing; just stop relying on the fixed term, break clause or rent review in them.

Change 3: the grounds for possession

The Act changed several grounds and added new ones:

• Ground 1, moving in: you or a close family member want to live there. 4 months' notice, and not in the first 12 months of the tenancy.
• Ground 1A, selling: new. Also 4 months' notice and not in the first 12 months. Once you've used Ground 1 or 1A you can't re-let or advertise the property to let until 12 months after the date in your notice. Doing so is an offence, with a penalty of up to £40,000.
• Ground 6B, enforcement action: new. You need the property back to comply with something like a banning order or a licensing requirement.
• Ground 8, serious rent arrears: at least 3 months' rent unpaid (13 weeks if rent is weekly) both when you serve the notice and at the hearing, with 4 weeks' notice. It used to be 2 months' arrears and 2 weeks' notice.

Check: each ground has its own notice period. If you cite several, the longest one applies.

Change 4: the landlord register (from December 2026)

Every landlord of an assured or regulated tenancy in England will have to register themselves and each property on the Private Rented Sector Database, which the Government runs as the "Register your rental property" service. Councils will use it for enforcement, and later on tenants will be able to use it to check a landlord.

Timescales: the service opens on 15 December 2026 in the West Midlands and rolls out region by region. Once registration is required in your region you have 3 months to register, and every let property must be on it by 14 November 2027. The fee is £65 a year per property. After your region's deadline councils can enforce, with penalties of up to £7,000, or up to £40,000 where an offence is committed.

Check:

• Your property's region: the deadline follows where the property is, not where you live.
• What the service will ask for: address, type of home, bedrooms, occupants and households, any HMO, additional or selective licence number, rent, and copies of your gas safety record, EICR and EPC.

Change 5: the Decent Homes Standard (from 2035)

The Act lets the Government apply the Decent Homes Standard to private rentals for the first time. It isn't in force yet. The Government's 2026 policy statement says it will apply to private and social rented homes from 2035.

It will cover five things: no serious hazards, a good state of repair, reasonable kitchen and bathroom facilities, reasonable warmth, and no damp and mould. Until then, the rules that bite are the ones you already know: the hazard rating system (HHSRS), your repairing duty under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and the duty to keep the home fit to live in.

Your checklist

• [ ] To get a property back, use a Section 8 notice on Form 3A with the right ground and notice period
• [ ] Use a periodic tenancy agreement for every new let, with no fixed term, break clause or rent review
• [ ] Raise the rent only with a Section 13 notice (Form 4A), once a year at most
• [ ] Check every existing tenant was given the government's Information Sheet by 31 May 2026, and give it now if one was missed
• [ ] Take "No DSS", "no children" and "offers over" wording out of your adverts
• [ ] Answer any pet request in writing within 28 days
• [ ] Keep gas safety, the EICR, the EPC and the deposit in order (an unprotected deposit stops most possession claims)
• [ ] Register each let property on the PRS Database by your region's deadline (the service opens 15 December 2026)
• [ ] Ask your rent guarantee insurer what it covers under Section 8

LetCompliance works through this checklist with you as you let each property. It writes the periodic tenancy agreement and takes the e-signatures, keeps the rent ledger that works out the arrears for a Section 8 notice (Form 3A), builds the Section 13 notice (Form 4A) when the rent goes up, and gives each property a 0 to 100 compliance score covering gas, electrics, EPC, the deposit and Right to Rent. The notice builders are on paid plans. Get started →

Key Change 6: you can no longer choose tenants the old way

This gets far less attention than Section 21 and changes day-to-day practice more, because it applies to every let rather than the small share that end in possession.

Blanket bans are unlawful. Refusing to let to someone because they receive benefits, or because they have children, is prohibited in England, both in how you advertise and in the decision itself. "No DSS", "no children" and "professionals only" are out, and so are the softer versions that mean the same thing.

You may still assess affordability, and you should. The distinction is between judging the individual applicant's actual income and circumstances, and applying a rule to a category of people before you have looked at them. A benefits recipient with a guarantor and a clean reference is an applicant like any other.

Rent bidding is banned. You must advertise a stated rent and must not invite or accept offers above it, even where an applicant volunteers one.

Pets. A tenant can request to keep a pet, you must give a written decision, and you cannot unreasonably refuse. Note one thing that is often stated wrongly: you cannot require the tenant to take out pet insurance, and you cannot recharge your own. Damage to the property remains a matter for the deposit, which is still capped at five weeks' rent (six where the annual rent is £50,000 or more).

Practically, this means your advert template, your application form and your tenant-selection criteria all need reviewing, not just your possession paperwork.

What it costs to get this wrong

The enforcement design is the part most checklists leave out, and it is what makes the Act bite differently from previous reforms.

Non-compliance is split into two categories:

• A breach is non-compliance the council cannot prosecute but can penalise with a civil penalty of up to £7,000.
• An offence is non-compliance where the council can either prosecute or impose a civil penalty of up to £40,000.

Initial or minor failures sit at the lower end; serious, persistent or repeat failures move into the £40,000 bracket. Because this is largely civil enforcement by your local council rather than criminal prosecution, it is faster and considerably more likely to actually happen than the regime it replaced.

Two limits worth knowing. Only breaches and offences occurring after 1 May 2026 are enforceable under the new restrictions. And you receive a notice of intent before any final penalty, with a window to make written representations and a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal. Many councils' penalty policies give credit for cooperation and quick fixes, so engaging early can reduce the figure.

Separately, Rent Repayment Orders were strengthened: the maximum was doubled, repeat offenders can be required to pay it, and RROs now reach superior landlords, so handing a property to a management company no longer hands over the exposure with it.