Renters' Rights Act 2025 Explained

Since 1 May 2026, the Renters' Rights Act 2025 has abolished Section 21 "no-fault" eviction for private tenants in England, converted assured shorthold tenancies to periodic assured tenancies, and banned rental bidding, blanket pet bans and "no DSS" adverts. Further reforms are still to come.

Information last verified on 18 July 2026. This page is general legal information, not legal advice.

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers the Renters' Rights Act 2025, which reforms the private rented sector in England only. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own tenancy law and are unaffected by this Act.

What is the Renters' Rights Act 2025?

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 is the law that rewrote private renting in England. It received Royal Assent in October 2025, and its main reforms for private tenants took effect on 1 May 2026. Before the Act, most private tenancies were assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs), fixed-term agreements a landlord could end without giving a reason once the fixed term ended, using a Section 21 notice. The Act replaces that system. Existing and new private tenancies became periodic assured tenancies, with no fixed end date, and a landlord can now only regain possession by relying on a specific ground under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988. The Act also reforms rent increases, bans several unfair letting practices, and adds a right to request a pet. Some further measures, covered below, are not yet in force.

Section 21 is abolished: what replaced it

Section 21 "no-fault" eviction, which let a landlord end an assured shorthold tenancy without giving a reason, has been abolished for the private rented sector since 1 May 2026. On the same date, all assured shorthold tenancies converted to periodic assured tenancies: there is no fixed term to renew or end, and the tenancy simply continues until the tenant gives notice or the landlord obtains possession through a Section 8 ground. A tenant can end the tenancy at any time by giving two months' written notice. A landlord can no longer decline to renew a tenancy or serve a blanket eviction notice; they must fit one of the reformed Section 8 grounds, described below, and follow the correct notice period for that ground. See the Section 21 notice guide for how the old system worked and what changed.

New Section 8 grounds and notice periods

With Section 21 gone, every private eviction in England now goes through Section 8. Two grounds come up most often:

• Ground 1 and Ground 1A (the landlord or a close family member moving in, or the landlord selling): at least four months' notice, and cannot be used at all during a tenancy's first 12 months, a new protected period.
• Ground 8 (serious rent arrears): now requires at least three months' arrears, up from two months' under the old rules, and the notice period has increased to four weeks.
• Anti-social behaviour grounds have also been strengthened.

A landlord who cannot fit a ground, or who serves the wrong notice, cannot lawfully evict a tenant through the county court. See the Section 8 notice guide for the full list of grounds and how each notice period is calculated.

Rent increases under the Act

Rent can now only rise once a year, and only through a formal Section 13 notice giving at least two months' written notice of the new amount. A landlord cannot increase rent informally, through a rent-review clause, or more than once in 12 months. If a tenant thinks the proposed rent is above the local market rate, they can challenge it at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) before the increase takes effect. The Tribunal can confirm the landlord's figure or set a lower one, but it cannot set a rent higher than the landlord proposed, and any Tribunal-set rent cannot be backdated. The Act also bans rental bidding: a landlord or agent cannot invite or accept offers above the advertised rent. See the rent increases guide for the full process and how to refer a case to the Tribunal.

Pets and other tenant protections

Several Phase 1 changes protect tenants beyond eviction and rent. A tenant can now request permission to keep a pet, and the landlord must respond in writing within 28 days and cannot unreasonably refuse; a landlord may ask the tenant to take out pet damage insurance as a condition of agreeing. Blanket "no pets" clauses in a tenancy agreement no longer apply. The Act also bans blanket "no DSS" advertising and letting practices that exclude tenants who receive benefits, and blanket bans on letting to tenants with children. These bans target advertising and blanket refusals; a landlord can still assess an individual application on its own merits. See the renting with pets guide for how to make a request and what counts as an unreasonable refusal.

What's still to come: Phase 2 (forthcoming)

Not every part of the Act is running yet. Two measures are still forthcoming and should not be treated as current law: a mandatory Private Rented Sector (PRS) Database, which will require landlords to register and pay an annual fee, expected from late 2026, and a mandatory PRS Landlord Ombudsman, giving tenants a free redress route without going to court, expected later, in 2028. Alongside these, the Decent Homes Standard and Awaab's Law, which set fixed timescales for landlords to fix serious hazards, are being extended to the private rented sector, though the exact commencement date has not been confirmed. Until these measures commence, there is no PRS-wide landlord register or ombudsman scheme, and repairs complaints still go through the existing routes: the landlord, then the council's environmental health team, then court as a last resort. Check gov.uk's implementation roadmap for the latest commencement dates.

Phase 1 vs Phase 2 at a glance

Does the Act apply in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland?

No. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 reforms the private rented sector in England only. Wales runs its own system under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, where no-fault eviction still exists as a Section 173 notice. Scotland's Private Residential Tenancy has never had a no-fault ground, and eviction goes through the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland. Northern Ireland uses the Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 and a Notice to Quit system. None of these three nations were changed by this Act, and none of the Phase 1 or Phase 2 measures described here apply outside England. See the UK tenant rights hub for how eviction, deposits and rent increases compare across all four nations.

Frequently asked questions

This page is general legal information about the Renters' Rights Act 2025 in England, verified on 18 July 2026. It is not legal advice, and how the Act applies depends on your own tenancy. For help, contact Shelter, Citizens Advice, or a solicitor. For the wider four-nation picture, see the UK tenant rights hub and the United Kingdom law hub.