Time for Change – Renters’ Rights Act 2025 now in force – what do Landlords need to know?
Section 21 Notices are abolished
Landlords are no longer able to issue a section 21 (no fault) eviction notice. This means that landlords will now need to give tenants more notice (depending on the applicable grounds), to evict them, and there is almost certainly going to be a court hearing if the tenant does not move out after a notice is served, and proceedings are issued.
Previously, landlords could evict using the section 21 process, and if proceedings were issued, the Court would usually grant a Possession Order on the papers, without the need for a hearing.
Additional grounds to evict under Section 8 Housing Act 1988
The Act has made changes to the existing section 8 process, which aims to strike a balance between the interests of landlords and tenants. The Act has more than doubled the number of grounds for possession and the grounds are still either mandatory or discretionary.
If you wish to evict a tenant, you will need to prove one of the grounds in order to evict. A list of the grounds can be found here:
Landlords will be pleased to know that they are now able to serve a section 8 notice using ground 1A if they wish to sell the property. A landlord must give four months’ notice and it must not expire before the 12 month period has ended, for new tenancies.
If there is a break clause in a pre-1 May 2026 Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement (“AST”), the clause will no longer be valid. Break clauses are no longer permitted.
Landlords should be aware that gaining possession is not guaranteed, even if using a mandatory ground to evict a tenant. There will still be input from the Courts and ultimately, is down to the Judge to decide whether or not to grant a Possession Order.
Our advice to Landlords is to keep as much paperwork as possible pertaining to the tenancy and the tenant(s). Better paperwork usually leads to greater chances of success when evicting a tenant.
Rent reviews
Landlords are now only able to increase the rent by following a revised statutory procedure in section 13 of the Housing Act 1988. The rent can be increased once a year, with two months’ notice and landlords must use a section 13 notice.
A tenant is able to challenge the rent increase in the First Tier Tribunal (“FTT”) and the FTT is no longer able to order a rent which is higher than the rent increase proposed by the landlord, even if it is found to be below the market rent. The FTT can of course set a lower rent if they agree that the increase is too much. The rent will only take effect once it has been determined by the FTT and it will not be backdated.
A landlord cannot evict a tenant due to them challenging a rent increase.
Pets
Landlords are now no longer able to say no to pets, particularly without good reason. A tenant can ask to keep a pet and a Landlord can only say no, if there is a good reason. Any no pet clauses in existing tenancy agreements, will no longer be valid.
Advance rent
A landlord is now only able to ask for 1 month’s rent in advance. A landlord could find themselves with a fine, issued by the Council, if they ask for rent in excess of 1 month.
Fixed Term Tenancies
Landlords are no longer able to issue fixed period AST’s. If their current AST is a fixed AST, it will now become a periodic assured tenancy therefore there is no fixed end date.
Court backlog and costs
Most courts tend to have a backlog of cases, and some of this is as a result of covid-19. The courts are likely to have an even larger backlog of cases now, as they have seen an influx of possession order applications, leading up to the changes coming into effect on 1 May 2026.
As landlords are no longer able to issue a section 21 notice, the costs of evicting tenants will likely increase due to needing to carry out more work under the section 8 procedure, and as a result of a court hearing.
Mandatory Government Information Sheet
BE AWARE – landlords must distribute a mandatory government information sheet to all tenants by no later than 31 May 2026. You can download the sheet here:
You must not simply provide the link to a tenant, it needs to be downloaded and sent via email to the tenant or printed and sent via post or hand delivered to the tenant. It is recommended that landlords keep proof of service of the leaflet on all tenants in the Tenancy Agreement.
If this sheet is not provided to a tenant by 31 May 2026, a landlord could be fined up to £7,000. Please note that if a Tenancy Agreement is based entirely on a verbal agreement, and entered into pre-1 May 2026 then a landlord cannot provide this sheet. The landlord must provide certain written information about the key terms of the tenancy instead.
Please see the link below:
This information must also be given to all new tenants under tenancy agreements post 1 May 2026.
Summary
The above list is not an exhaustive list of the changes and landlords must familiarise themselves with the Renters Rights Act 2025 as there are now hefty fines which can be given, if a landlord does not fully comply with its obligations.