The short answer
In England, no. The yearly “renewal” many landlords and agents used to do, a fresh 12-month agreement signed each year, has no job to do any more. Since 1 May 2026 assured tenancies are periodic: they run month to month, or week to week, until the tenant gives notice or a court orders possession. The tenancy you have carries on, on the terms already agreed.
A new agreement is not the way to put the rent up either. Rent rises now go through the Section 13 process on Form 4A, every time, even if the tenant has already said yes.
This page covers England. Wales and Scotland have their own tenancy law.
Why the yearly renewal went
GOV.UK’s “Assured periodic tenancies: a guide for landlords” (read 20 October 2026) says that on 1 May 2026 all assured tenancies, including assured shorthold tenancies, automatically became rolling tenancies, and that if a tenancy had an end date it no longer applies. It also says you did not need to do anything for the change to take effect. So an old AST with a fixed term ending in, say, August 2026 did not need replacing in August. It simply carries on.
New tenancies are periodic from the start. There is no fixed term to renew at the end of a year.
What you did need to do for existing tenants
The same guide’s page on written information sets the one job that came with the change (read 20 October 2026):
- A written tenancy agreement made before 1 May 2026. Give every tenant named on it a copy of “The Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026”, printed or digital, by 31 May 2026
- An oral tenancy made before 1 May 2026. Give the tenant the written information about the key terms by 31 May 2026
GOV.UK says you could be fined up to £7,000 for not giving the written information. If you missed the date, give it now and keep a record of when.
Putting the rent up without a new agreement
GOV.UK’s “Rent increases” page in the same guide (read 20 October 2026) sets the route:
- Talk to the tenant first. GOV.UK suggests discussing any increase before you send anything
- Use Form 4A, the landlord’s notice proposing a new rent. You need to follow the section 13 process every time you increase the rent, even if the tenant has already agreed
- Give at least 2 months’ notice before the new rent starts. Hand it over, post it, or email it if the tenancy agreement allows
- Once a year at most, and not in the first year of the tenancy
- The tenant can challenge it. If they think the new rent is above the open market rent, they can ask the First-tier Tribunal to decide
A rent review clause in an old agreement does not get round this. GOV.UK says an increase agreed before 1 May 2026 under a rent review clause that would take effect after that date does not apply.
When you do need a new agreement
- A new tenancy. A new tenant moving into an empty property, or a whole new household replacing the old one
- A different property. A tenant moving from one of your flats to another is a new tenancy of the new flat
- Changes to the terms, both agreeing. GOV.UK says both you and your tenant must agree any change to the terms. A signed variation, or a fresh agreement on the new terms, records it. It cannot be used to impose a rent rise outside Section 13
If one joint tenant leaves and another joins, take advice on the right paperwork for your case. The guide to one joint tenant leaving, linked below, explains the options.
What about renewal fees?
A renewal fee charged to the tenant is not on GOV.UK’s list of payments a landlord or agent may ask a tenant for (“Fees you can charge as part of a tenancy”, updated 7 July 2026). If an agent still charges you, the landlord, a renewal fee for a tenancy that now rolls on by law, ask what work it pays for.
How LetCompliance handles it
- No renewal to diarise. The tenancy carries on in the app as it does in law, with rent charges raised on each rent day until the tenancy ends
- The rent rise. The earliest date a new rent can start is worked out from the tenancy, and Form 4A is filled in from it, for you to check and serve. The rent review board lists every current tenancy with its rent, last increase and earliest new date, so several can be prepared one after another. Section 13 comes with paid plans from £7.99 a month
- The Information Sheet. Served to one tenancy or many at once, with the date recorded against each tenant, on every plan
- A new let. The agreement for a new assured periodic tenancy is built from the tenancy details. The free plan and the 3-day trial create one new agreement a calendar month and paid plans have no limit. Sending it for e-signature comes with the trial and paid plans
Common mistakes
- Asking tenants to sign a “renewal” each year, which changes nothing in law and can confuse the rent history
- Writing a higher rent into a new agreement instead of serving Form 4A
- Serving Form 4A less than 2 months before the new rent starts, or within a year of the last rise
- Charging the tenant a renewal or contract fee
- Forgetting the Information Sheet for tenancies that started before 1 May 2026
Does my old AST still apply after 1 May 2026?
Yes, as a periodic tenancy. Its terms carry on, except those the Renters’ Rights Act overrides, such as the fixed end date and rent review clauses taking effect after 1 May 2026. The blog guide to the periodic conversion goes through which clauses no longer work.
Can my tenant and I agree a new rent without a form?
Not for an assured tenancy in England. GOV.UK says the section 13 process applies even if you have already agreed the increase, so agree it, then serve Form 4A.
How much does a new tenancy agreement cost?
Nothing to the tenant: a contract fee is not a permitted payment. For you, the free template on this site costs nothing, and LetCompliance builds one on every plan, the free plan included, with e-signing from the trial and paid plans from £7.99 a month.
What LetCompliance does not do here
- It does not tell you what rent to propose: there is no market rent figure in the app
- Form 4A is prepared and checked one tenancy at a time; there is no one-click batch send
- Section 13 is not in the trial or on the free plan
- It covers England only
