The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 has finally received Royal Assent

Amid much publicity, the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 has finally hit the statute-book. It implements the Labour Party’s commitment in its 2024 Manifesto to overhaul the regulation of the private rented sector.

We do not yet have a start date for most of the provisions of the Act. When they do come into force (probably Spring 2026 for most of the key provisions), they will (with a few exceptions) apply both to new and existing tenancies.

Key changes to be brought in by the Act

1. Assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) (including those already existing when the relevant provision comes into force) will be abolished and replaced by periodic tenancies that can be terminated by a tenant on two months' notice at the end of a rent period (so it will no longer be possible to tie a tenant into a minimum fixed term).

2. The abolition of ASTs will also mean the abolition of their defining characteristic: the ability for a landlord to terminate for no reason on two months' notice at the end of the contractual term.

3. To obtain possession, a landlord will instead have to use one of the amended grounds for possession in Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988. For example, after 12 months (and on four months' notice) a landlord will be able to terminate if they wish to sell the property or need the property as the only or principal home for themselves or a close family member.

4. A landlord will only be able to increase rent by using the existing statutory mechanism in the Housing Act 1988, but not more than once a year. The increased rent will not be back-dated (it will only apply from the date the First-tier Tribunal makes its decision).

Other significant provisions in the Act

These include (amongst other things): 

• a restriction on landlords’ ability to ask for rent in advance; 
• a ban on rental bidding wars (landlords cannot accept bids above the asking rent) and discrimination against families with children or who receive benefits; 
• a requirement that landlords cannot unreasonably refuse consent to a tenant’s request to keep a pet; 
• a requirement for landlords to give their tenants a written statement of the terms of their tenancy in a form to be specified by the government;
• a requirement for landlords to join a Private Rented Sector Database and a Landlord Ombudsman Scheme; and 
• application of the Decent Homes Standard and Awaab's Law to the private rented sector (the latter will require landlords to deal with damp and other serious health hazards within a set timetable).

If they have not done so already, landlords and letting agents need urgently to review their practices and processes to make sure they are ready for the biggest shake-up in the private rented sector since the late 1980s (when ASTs were first created by Mrs Thatcher’s government).