Renters Rights Act

From May 1 2026 the UK government brings into force the new Renters Rights Act. This brings along a number of important changes to the current residential lettings framework in relation to tenancies that fall under the 1988 housing act. Here is a summary of those changes;

Abolition of section 21 no fault evictions

This means that the landlord cannot simply ask a tenant to leave their property anymore using a no fault eviction notice. A landlord can only serve notice now if they intend to sell or move back in. This would be done using a new version of the section 8 notice and there is a 12 month letting ban that comes into force as a result of using that notice in order to prevent abuse of process.

Renters Rights Act Factsheet

Every tenant needs to be given the new renters rights act factsheet by the end of May 2026. There are fines of up to £7000 for failing to do this and, probably more importantly, a landlord may not be able to regain possession of their property if they fail to serve  the factsheet to the Tenant by that date and in an appropriate format. 

Please note that any Rogers & Partners managed landlord clients will have the factsheet sent to their tenants by us automatically. There is nothing to stop you from sending the notice to your tenant if you have their contact details but we are working hard to ensure that every named Tenant and guarantor receives a copy of the factsheet from us and that we record having sent that to them.

Lifetime Tenancies

ALL existing and new Housing Act tenancies will now be lifetime tenancies. They will not have a duration or an end date. They will simply exist on an ongoing basis until either a landlord regains possession using a section 8 notice or the Tenant surrenders possession.

Tenant 2 Month Notice

From May 1 2026 onwards all Housing Act tenants will be able to leave their property giving two months notice to the Landlord at any time. That will apply to all tenancies across-the-board including existing tenancies provided they are subject to the provisions of the 1988 housing act. In practice we believe this is only likely to happen where perhaps a tenant has a change in circumstances or decides they don't like where they live. We do not expect the implications of this part of the legislation to be particularly onerous or far reaching.

There are numerous smaller parts to the renters rights act including extended council powers to investigate rogue landlords and also there will be a new database that every Landlord needs to sign up to and list all of their rental properties. Again there will be penalties for not doing so as this database will be necessary for local authorities etc to impose the letting bans pursuant to the issuing of a section 8 notice. There are other reasons why the database needs to exist.

Above is a brief though not exhaustive summary of what you need to know for now and obviously we will as a company work within the new framework from the date it becomes law.

Clearly this is one of the biggest raft of changes to the private rented sector for some years and many landlords are concerned about the ongoing implications. As a professional Agent we are obviously keeping across all of these changes and we would be more than happy to discuss any questions or queries you may have in order to allay any fears or clarify any concerns. Please feel free to contact us on (01902) 566666 or you can use the online contact form or send us an email to info@rogers-partners.co.uk

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