The government has confirmed that the Renters’ Rights Act will come into force next year, with implementation beginning on 1 May 2026, following the release of the official rollout timeline.
The government says giving advance notice of the legislative changes now gives sufficient time for landlords and letting agents to deliver these changes for their tenants.
In just under six months, private renters will no longer face being served with a Section 21 eviction notice. Tenants will be able to appeal excessive above-market rent increases that try to force them out and landlords can no longer unreasonably refuse tenants’ requests to have a pet.
Meanwhile, landlords will have stronger legally valid reasons to get their properties back when needed – whether that’s to move in, sell up or deal with rent arrears or anti-social behaviour.
Housing secretary Steve Reed said: “We’re calling time on no fault evictions and rogue landlords. Everyone should have peace of mind and the security of a roof over their head – the law we’ve just passed delivers that.
“We’re now on a countdown of just months to that law coming in – so good landlords can get ready and bad landlords should clean up their act.”
Other changes which come into effect on 1 May will go further to tackle discrimination and financial exploitation, creating a more stable, fairer system for renters.
It will become illegal for landlords and letting agents to:
+ increase rent prices more than once a year
+ ask for more than one month’s rent payment in advance
+ pit prospective tenants against one another through rental bidding wars
+ discriminate against potential tenants, because they receive benefits or have children.
After the first phase of changes in May, the Renters’ Rights Act will come in two further stages, with phase 2 (starting late 2026) introducing:
+ The Private Landlord Ombudsman – a free, independent service helping tenants resolve complaints not dealt with by their landlord without going to court.
+ A Private Rented Sector Database – a new central online place where all landlords must register themselves and the properties they rent out. It will be rolled out in two stages and the need for landlords to sign up will be staggered by areas across England from late 2026.
More protections to improve conditions in private rented homes will come in phase 3, with public consultations informing their introduction.
This includes introducing a Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector for the first time so tenants have safe, secure and warm housing. Extending Awaab’s Law to the private rented sector will also be consulted on soon, to protect all tenants from dangerous homes.
Alongside the Renters’ Rights Act, there will also see an improved Housing Health and Safety Rating System which will better assess health and safety risks in homes and making it more efficient and easier to understand – also supporting work to introduce the Decent Homes Standard to privately rented homes.
And there are also planned new standards to ensure privately rented properties are warmer and cheaper to run. The government has consulted on plans to require all domestic privately rented properties in England and Wales to meet Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) of EPC C or equivalent by 2030 unless a valid exemption is in place. Further details will be set out in the government’s response to the consultation.
Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, commented: “The UK government’s announcement on timelines for the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 signals a landmark shift for the private rented sector in England. With increasing layers of regulation, it has never been more important for landlords to use a qualified, professional, and regulated letting agent to help navigate the complexity of compliance and ensure both landlords and tenants are properly protected.
“Professional agents play a vital role in supporting good practice, reducing risk, and maintaining standards across the sector. That makes it even more important that the UK government proceeds with these reforms in a way that maintains landlord confidence, incentivises continued investment in private rental housing, and enables letting agents and landlords to deliver high-quality homes for tenants.”
The government recently published an official guide to the Renters’ Rights Act – see below – setting out what the new legislation means for letting agents, landlords and tenants.
The guidance explains the key changes to rental rules, but fails to outline when the new measures will take effect. The government says it will publish a separate timeline outlining plans for implementation.
David Smith, property litigation partner at London law firm Spector Constant & Williams, said: “This will put agents under an immense amount of pressure to get everything done ready for the start date. As the government does not intend to give details of what needs to be in tenancy agreements until early in 2026 there will be very little time to prepare paperwork, train staff and update systems.”
Landlords will also be prevented from increasing rents more than once per year and bidding wars among potential tenants will also be outlawed from 1 May next year. Other measures to come into force from 1 May include banning landlords from asking for more than one month’s rent as a deposit.
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, commented: “The announcement of a commencement date for these important reforms is welcome. However, a deadline alone is not enough.
“We have argued consistently that landlords and property businesses need at least six months from the publication of regulations to ensure the sector is properly prepared for the biggest changes it has faced for over 40 years.
“Unless the government urgently publishes all the guidance documents and written material needed to update tenancy agreements to reflect the changes to come, the plan will prove less a roadmap and more a path to inevitable failure.
“Without this landlords, tenants, agents, councils and the courts will be left without the information required to adapt, creating utter confusion at the very moment clarity is most needed.
“Ministers also need to explain how the county court will be ready to process legitimate possession cases far more swiftly than at present. As the cross-party Justice Committee has rightly warned, the court is simply dysfunctional. Vague assurances about digitisation, without an idea of what that means in practice, are simply not good enough.”
Read the orginal article: https://propertyindustryeye.com/eye-newsflash-government-unveils-strat-date-for-renters-rights-act/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=eye-newsflash-government-unveils-strat-date-for-renters-rights-act
