Renters Rights Act - coming VERY soon!

Among many changes from 1 May:-

• All current AST’s will become Periodic Tenancies i.e. no fixed term;
• There can be no contractual rent reviews (even if built into current Tenancy Agreements);
• Section 21 Notices (the so called “no fault eviction” Notice) will finally pass into history.

Every landlord of a residential property currently let on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy should familiarise themselves with the key changes being brough in by the Act.

The good news is that there is no requirement to amend or renew current tenancies on or after 1 May but soon to be published Government information leaflet must be given to every current tenant.  

A few more changes worth highlighting:-

•  In order to recover possession of a property a landlord will have to have a reason (or a “ground”) for serving Notice and will need to serve a Section 8 Notice.  There are now no less than 37 Grounds for possession.  Most of the grounds that were in existence previously remain in the Act but typically have a longer Notice Period and give a Judge wider discretion as to whether or not to grant a Possession Order.
• If a tenant fails to vacate on the expiry of a Notice the landlord will have to issue a claim for possession in the County Court and there will be a hearing for a Judge to determine the claim. There is no replacement for or equivalent of the outgoing accelerated possession procedure (which did not require a hearing).
• If a landlord wishes to move back into a property then a Section 8 Notice requiring 4 months’ notice can be served.  This does not require any prior notice to have been given at the start of the Tenancy and can apply to wider family members (e.g. Landlord’s spouse, civil partner, children, grandchildren, parents and grandparents and potentially even wider family members).
• If a landlord intends to sell the property then again a 4 month Notice can be given but once possession is obtained the property cannot be relet for a period of 12 months.  This ground should is intended for when a landlord genuinely intends to sell.  
• There will be no contractual rent increases under the new Act  Any rent review clauses in the tenancy will be redundant.  Instead to increase rent (assuming you cannot agree a new rent with the tenant) will require a Section 13 Notice to be served which can only be done once a year and is always capable of being challenged by the tenant (by way of an application to the First Tier Tribunal).
• When reletting a property it is no longer possible for a landlord to accept offers above the advertised rent.  

If you are a Landlord and at all doubtful or concerned about a tenant that is currently in occupation of your property then you should consider whether or not you are happy to continue with the tenant beyond 1 May or whether it might be sensible to serve Notice and recover possession of the property now.

There is now a limited window (which is closing fast) to serve a Section 21 Notice on a current tenant and to rely on the accelerated possession procedure.  The last date to serve a valid Section 21 Notice is 31 April 2026 and the last date for issuing a claim following a Section 21 Notice is 31 July 2026.

The County Courts can take several weeks to issue a possession claim.  If you are contemplating serving a Section 21 Notice you should do so without further delay.  From my experience of issuing many such claims I suggest that you do not want to be sending the claim to Court to be issued later than the very beginning of July 2026.  

This is a very brief summary and it barely scratches the surface of the changes being brought in by the new Act, if you would like to discuss the changes further please contact Andrew Harbourne on 020 8776 3883. If you have a rental property currently occupied by an Assured Shorthold Tenant, do not hesitate to contact us on 020 8290 0440 to speak to a specialist Landlord and Tenant solicitor.