Are you a private landlord? This is what you need to know now about the Renters Right Act 2025

This is the first of a series of articles in which Furley Page experts provide an overview of the Renters Right Act 2025.

This article focuses only on the effect of the Act on the private rented sector (PRS).

Unless you have been under a rock, most landlords, tenants and property industry professionals will now know that the new Renters Rights Act 2025 brings in the biggest changes to residential lettings that the industry has seen since the Housing Act 1988.  The much-anticipated Act finally gained Royal Assent on the 27 October 2025. At that point, little was known about the Act other than that from the 27 December 2025 local authorities would be granted new powers to inspect premises and obtain relevant documents.  The new powers enable local authorities to take tougher action against rogue landlords and enforce housing standards.  We had no specific timeline for other key changes.

The Government produced its timeline for phasing in the Act at the end of last week.  Read on to discover the key dates to be aware of and what the first phase is expected to bring.

Key dates that landlords should be aware of:

• Phase 1
  1 May 2026 – the new tenancy regime will commence; this will immediately relate to both existing and new tenancies.
• Phase 2
  Late 2026 – the new Landlord’s database will be introduced which all landlords must register with. In addition, the Landlords Ombudsman will be established, providing a dispute resolution service for landlords and tenants to try and avoid costly court proceedings.
• Phase 3
  Date to be confirmed – there will be an extension of Awaab’s Law to the private rental sector in relation to disrepair and also the Decent Homes Standard will be introduced. The timescales for introducing this phase will be subject to consultation.

Phase 1 – what will it bring?

• No further right for landlords to use a Section 21 Notice to terminate a tenancy.
• No more fixed term tenancies will be granted and any existing tenancy within a fixed term will immediately convert to a periodic tenancy. There will be no further Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) but instead they will be Assured Periodic Tenancies (APTs). This provides tenants with security as their tenancies will not come to an end until either the tenant gives 2 months’ notice (shorter if agreed between the parties) or the landlord gives notice relying on one of the grounds in the Act.
• The grounds for a landlord to seek possession have been reformed with existing grounds remaining but amended, and new grounds added that include where landlords either have a reason for possession i.e. selling or on a ‘fault’ ground i.e. tenant not paying the rent or anti-social behaviour.
• Landlord’s seeking to increase rent will only have the S13 Notice of Increase route to increase the rent. They will also now be required to give at least 2 months’ notice before the new rent is to commence. Tenants can still refer the Notice of Increase to the Tribunal if they wish to challenge it.
• There will be no more ‘rental bidding’ wars, where there is high demand for a property.
• Landlord’s will not be allowed to take rent in advance from a tenant.
• Landlord’s must not discriminate against tenants who are in receipt of benefits or who have children and must also consider a request for a pet.
• Where landlord’s fall foul of the new rules, there are harsher penalties in place for local authorities to implement, for example on a first offence a landlord could be charged £7,000 and with repeated offences they could be charged up to £40,000 with the alternative of a criminal prosecution.
• Rent repayment orders have also changed. They can still be pursued by either a tenant or the local authority against a landlord. It will now include orders being made against a superior landlord and company directors to ensure the criminal rent to rent arrangements can be properly held to account.  The maximum amount a landlord can be ordered to pay rises from 12 months to 24 months and the period in which a tenant or local authority can apply for an order increases to 24 months.

What else should you know?

Also, from the 1 May 2026, all landlords granting new tenancies will be required to give tenants key information about their tenancy, however this needs secondary legislation.  A draft document will be produced in January 2026 to allow landlords to start preparing and further information will be included in our next update.

For all existing tenancies as of the 1 May 2026, if those tenancies have a written tenancy agreement already then landlords will be required to provide tenants with an “Information Sheet” about how the new Act will affect their tenancy – again this needs input from the Government.  Landlords will be able to get this from around the end of March 2026 and must provide it to their tenants prior to the 31 May 2026.

The above requirements for new and existing tenancies are of course in addition to the other legal requirements that will remain such as gas and electrical certificates, EPCs, How to Rent guides and deposit protection requirements.

All those in the PRS would be well advised to keep a close eye on updates from the Government in the coming months to ensure they are fully prepared.

For expert advice about the changes to the law, contact our residential property team on 01227 763939.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice.