The Renters' Rights Act for landlords: what applies now

acrenvo.com/guides/renters-rights-act-landlord-guide, last reviewed 19 October 2026

Maya manages two flats herself. One tenant moved in three years ago under a written agreement; the other tenancy began in June 2026. The Renters’ Rights Act affects both properties, but not in exactly the same way. The older tenancy carried a one-off information duty, while the newer one began under the new written-terms and periodic-tenancy rules from the outset.

That distinction is a useful way into the Act. Some changes have applied across England since 1 May 2026, some depended on when a tenancy was agreed, and the later reforms are arriving in stages, some with announced dates and some still waiting for their rules. Treating every announcement as though it took effect on the same day is where otherwise careful records start to drift.

Start by separating current duties from later phases

The first phase changed the structure of most private assured tenancies on 1 May 2026. Existing assured shorthold tenancies became assured periodic tenancies automatically, and new assured tenancies can no longer be created with a fixed end date. An old agreement can stay in the file, but a fixed-term clause in it no longer determines when the tenancy ends.

The same date also brought in the new possession, rent, rental-bidding, rent-in-advance and discrimination rules. The Private Rented Sector database, landlord ombudsman and private-sector extension of Awaab’s Law belong to later phases. They matter for planning, but none of them can be acted on yet. The database has announced dates but does not open until 15 December 2026, and the other two still wait for the regulations that would make them apply to landlords.

The tenancy file changed on 1 May 2026

For a tenancy agreed on or after 1 May, the landlord must give the prescribed written information before the tenancy agreement is signed or otherwise made. This information can sit inside a written agreement or be supplied separately. Timing is the part to get right, because the information belongs at the start of the relationship rather than in a follow-up pack after the tenant has moved in.

The payment rules also changed. A landlord cannot ask for, encourage or accept rent before both sides have signed. During the period between signing and the tenancy starting, the landlord can normally ask for no more than one month’s rent in advance. Once the tenancy is running, rent falls due at the interval recorded in the agreement.

Written adverts must state an asking rent, and a landlord or agent must not invite or accept a higher offer. Requests to keep a pet need fair consideration, with a reason given if the request is refused. Separate rental-discrimination rules prevent a blanket refusal because someone has children or receives benefits, although ordinary affordability checks can still be applied consistently.

Older tenancies carried a one-off information deadline

If either task was missed, the duty should not be treated as though it disappeared with the date. The practical response is covered in the guide to the 31 May information deadline, including the difference between a written and verbal agreement and the evidence worth keeping when information is supplied late.

There is a separate trigger where a valid Section 8 or Section 21 notice served before May remained within the saved transition. If the tenancy later becomes an assured periodic tenancy because the notice expires or the court process ends without possession, the current government guidance gives one month from that event to supply the Information Sheet.

Possession now starts with a statutory ground

A new Section 21 notice cannot be served. A landlord who wants possession must use an available Section 8 ground, give the correct notice and, if the tenant remains, ask the court for a possession order. Selling the property, moving in, rent arrears and antisocial behaviour are examples, but they have different conditions and notice periods. The facts of the tenancy decide which route is available.

GOV.UK also describes a narrow extension for some pre-May Section 8 notices on rent arrears, where the tenant was in a debt breathing space. The Section 21 transition guide explains what that means for a notice served before May, including that extension.

Rent increases now use one documented route

For an assured periodic tenancy, a rent increase normally uses Form 4A under Section 13. It can take effect once in a 12-month period, cannot take effect during the tenancy’s first year and needs at least two months’ notice. The proposed figure remains open to a First-tier Tribunal challenge if it exceeds the open-market rent.

A diary entry should therefore record the date the last increase took effect, not only the day the notice was drafted. The Section 13 guide walks through that sequence and the transitional treatment of increases arranged before May.

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The later reforms belong on a watch list

The Private Rented Sector database now has announced dates. On 9 September 2026 the government said its “Register your rental property” service will open on 15 December 2026, starting in the West Midlands and reaching other areas over 12 months. Landlords in each area will have three months to sign up once their area is called forward, and every landlord actively letting property will need to have registered by 14 November 2027.

The government roadmap places mandatory landlord membership of the ombudsman in 2028, and the groundwork has started. Since 17 September 2026, regulations have set out the conditions a landlord redress scheme must meet before the government can approve or designate it. They do not yet require any landlord to join a scheme, so there is nothing to sign up to today. The private-sector date for Awaab’s Law remains subject to consultation and regulations, while for the Decent Homes Standard the government set 2035 in its policy statement of 28 January 2026, with legislation still to come, as the guide to energy and decency standards for rented homes explains. The consultation on Awaab’s Law for private tenancies opened on 9 October 2026 and runs until 18 December 2026. Councils already judge hazards in private rented homes with the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, which the guide to the revised HHSRS explains.

Those plans justify getting certificates and ownership records in order now, but not guessing when a particular area will be called forward or what the fee will be. The database preparation guide walks through the announced timetable and the details that are still open.

Use the documents as the source of each reminder

Maya’s most useful record is a short list for each flat, tied to its own tenancy agreement, deposit receipt, certificates, licence and notices. That makes it possible to see which duties apply and which date started each clock.

The free landlord compliance tracker organises those common dates in the browser and exports known deadlines to a calendar. It deliberately leaves later reforms as a watch list until government publishes the rules needed to calculate them.

Questions landlords ask about the Renters’ Rights Act