This article was originally commissioned by The Law Society.
The private rental sector has increased dramatically in recent years, having risen by 52% from 2008/9 to 2023/4. According to the ONS, 4.6 million households rent privately, accounting for 35% of all UK households. What was once a fringe market has now become a major supplier of housing.
The government has stated that “reform in the private rented sector is long overdue. Here, housing is the least affordable, poorest quality, and most insecure of all housing tenures”.
To address these issues, the Renters’ Rights Act, which will officially become law on 01.05.2026, is a key piece of legislation towards improving tenants’ rights. However, it can also be positive for private landlords, as a plethora of new resources and guidance will now be made available to them.
The Act is set to be enforced by local authorities who, the government argues, will be able to retain revenue for future enforcement work from financial penalties against landlords who flout the rules.
To concisely explore the moving parts of the Act, it has been split it into four key sections:
- Changes to eviction processes
- Changes to record keeping and third-party accountability
- Changes to housing conditions standards
- The ending of certain discriminatory practices
1) Changes to eviction processes:
For too long, the private rented sector has subjected tenants to uncertainty over their tenures. Thusly, the headline news from the Renters’ Rights Act will be the abolishment of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions. This groundbreaking part of the legislation will mean that all assured tenancies will be periodic. In theory, tenants will have security in challenging poor practice from their landlords without the fear of eviction.
The Act will also provide stronger protections against backdoor evictions. If a landlord looks to increase rent to such an extent (above market value) to drive the tenant out of the dwelling, tenants will now have new powers to appeal this.
With Section 21 evictions abolished, the Act will introduce robust measures so that landlords can recover their homes when reasonable. The government have posted guidance on both mandatory and discretionary grounds for possession, and the notice periods for each of these.
The government aims for the Act to introduce a simpler and more standardised system for privately rented tenancies. It is believed that this will help tenants to remain in their homes, and to challenge unscrupulous landlord behaviour. For landlords, there will be clear guidelines on how to regain possession of their homes. With the Act, landlords must use Section 8 to evict tenants, which means that they must give specific reasons governed by legislation.
With so many tenants currently living in fear of eviction, the Act will no doubt be a relief to many up and down the country. However, the Act makes sure to provide clear guidance to landlords on repossession, information on which will be available to them through the new Ombudsman service and the new Private Database.
2) Changes to record keeping and third-party accountability:
A key aspect of the Renters’ Rights Act is the importance of better record keeping within the private rental sector. This will not only allow tenants to hold their landlords accountable for poor practice but will help the wider sector to understand where its most notable shortcomings are. This, in turn, will help safeguard vulnerable residents by compiling essential information about their living conditions and needs.
A Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman Service will be introduced. This method of redress has previously been only available to private sector tenants through property redress schemes and the Social Care & Local Government Ombudsman. Previously, tenants could only make complaints about their estate agents through a property redress scheme, but this wasn’t widely available or understood.
Tenants can also make complaints about their local authority’s handling of escalated complaints to the Environmental Health Department, but this is also an unreliable method of redress for tenants seeking to complain.
The new Ombudsman in the private rented sector must not be underestimated. It will be a free-to-use service for tenants to complain about their landlord’s actions or behaviours. The new Ombudsman will have powers to compel landlords to issue apologies, provide information, take remedial action, and/or pay compensation. Just like the social rented sector, private rented sector landlords will have access to the Ombudsman’s guidance about complaint handling processes.
The Act will also introduce a new Private Rented Sector Database. Like the Ombudsman, it will be a ‘non-stop shop’, where landlords and tenants alike will be able to seek information about their rights and/or responsibilities.
Although it is unclear what the database will currently include, a more transparent system for both tenants and landlords should certainly be welcomed.
To ensure accountability is universal throughout the sector, both the new Ombudsman and the new database will be mandatory to join for landlords in the private rented sector. This includes all landlords who are looking to let any home on the market, or else they could face penalties enforced by local authorities for non-compliance.
3) Changes to housing conditions standards:
According to the English Housing Survey 2023/24, the private rented sector has the worst standard of homes in the UK. In 2023, 21% of private renters lived in non-decent homes, compared with 10% in the social rented sector.
Although standards of housing are reported to be improving since 2021, the gap between the social rented sector and the private rented sector has been a central point of discussion for consecutive governments.
The government introduced the Decent Homes Standard in 2006. This used the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) to evaluate and categorise the hazards in any given home. The problem with this system: it only applies to the social rented sector.
The Renters’ Rights Act will change this, with the Decent Homes Standard being introduced to the private rented sector for the first time. This will be enforced by local councils, who will be able to issue improvement notices and statutory nuisances on homes that do not meet the Standard.
Consistency across sectors will be beneficial for both landlords and tenants. It will ensure that compliance to the required standards for rental properties is met by providing clear guidance for all landlords in both the private and social rented sectors – something that has previously been lacking.
Awaab’s Law has also been introduced as part of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. This piece of legislation is currently being rolled out over a three-year period from 2025 to 2028 in the social rented sector, but with the introduction of the new Act, the law will apply to the private rented sector as well.
The legislation will require landlords to address hazards such as damp and mould within a specified period. Again, local authorities will be able to take enforcement action against landlords who do not comply with these requirements.
4) The ending of certain discriminatory practices:
The Renters’ Rights Act also aims to restrict various discriminatory practices it has identified.
It will prohibit landlords and letting agents from requiring or accepting any payment of rent in advance of a tenancy being entered. Further, landlords will only be able to require one months’ rent before commencement once a tenancy has been signed. This will mean that tenants who cannot afford to pay rent, sometimes as much as twelve months, in advance will not be discriminated against when looking for a new rental home.
To further assist those who are financially vulnerable, the Act will also put an end to rental bidding. Landlords and letting agents must now rent their dwellings at the price at which it was advertised. Encouraging or accepting any bids above this price will be against the law.
The Act will also protect families with children, or people who receive benefits. Although it is not certain how this will be enforced, the government are committed to ending ‘no DSS’ adverts. This will hopefully curb other indirect practices intentionally designed to restrict families with children, or those who receive benefits, from entering a private rental contract.
Finally, the Act will support tenants with pets. Landlords will not unreasonably be able to deny pets, and tenants will have new powers to challenge unfair decisions. However, the government are aware of potential damage caused by pets. To protect landlord’s homes, they will be able to require their tenants take out relevant pet insurance. This will be judged on a case-by-case basis.
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