The Renters Rights Act 2025 previously known as the Renters Reform Bill.
The Renters Rights Act 2025 has received royal ascent. It is an act that will bring in significant alterations to the UK housing rented sector. Royal ascent was granted on the 27th of November 2025, and the main parts of the Act will be brought in in stages starting on the 1st of May 2026.
The main aim of the act is to provide more security for tenants and allowing landlords to regain their properties for valid reasons.
The key aspects are as follows;
Section 21 evictions – landlords must have proper grounds to evict a tenant. These include selling or having a family member move into a property.
AST‘s (assured shorthold tenancies) – these will no longer exist and they will all become periodic or rolling monthly tenancies with no fixed end date.
Rent – landlords can increase rent but it must be only once a year and following the service of a section 13 notice. Tenants will be able to challenge rent increases through the tribunal and without the fear of a higher rent being set. Indeed, a lower rent may be granted given market conditions.
Database – a national database will be created where landlords are required to register their properties and this will ensure better enforcement for tenants and local authorities.
Decent home standards – decent home standards will be extended to the private sector which will require all properties to be safe and free from serious hazards.
Awaab’s Law – this will apply to private rentals and time frames will be set for landlords to deal with matters such as mould and damp and other hazardous items.
Discrimination – there will be bans on preventing tenants from occupying a property where they have children or whether they are receiving benefits.
Pets – tenants will be able to request a pet stay at the property and this cannot be unreasonably refused. Landlords can require pet insurance.
Rental bidding – landlords and agents will not be able to create a bidding war and the amount requested is the amount the rental go through on the market.
CONCLUSIONS
The act should provide additional security for tenants to challenge unfair rental practices without fear of retaliation. Tenants are required to give two months notice prior to ending tenancy.
Landlords will not be able to evict for no reason and must use an amended section 8 as the basis for their grounds of eviction which will be limited to 1. their intention to sell the property or 2. for a family member to move in. All these conditions will be subject to time and notice periods so for example if a tenant is evicted on the basis of sale and the sales does not go through the landlord will need to wait in order of 12 to 16 weeks prior to re-renting the property. This timescales are not yet clear.
These changes may drive more smaller private landlords to sell and move away from buy to let. The increased burden and potential for endless tribunal hearings will allow only the larger landlords to compete due to these increased costs. There are additional significant fines that can be imposed on landlords for breaches. The end result could be fewer rental properties, greater risk for landlords who will require greater yields to compensate for this and leading to increased rents.
