The Renters' Rights Act 2025
Since 1 May 2026, the Act has been in force. This page is the operational reference for what changed, what stayed, and what Harvey W James does about it. If you are a tenant, you can read this as the rights you now have. If you are a landlord, you can read this as the rules you now operate under. Either way, it is short, evidenced, and links out to where the detail lives.
We have been working under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 since it came into force. Our Essential Terms and Charges document, Lettings Valuation Guide, and operational workflows are all RRA-aligned. Nothing on this page is about preparing for change. It is about the regime that is already running.
The two changes that drive everything else
Most of the post-1-May-2026 questions tenants and landlords ask come back to two architectural changes. Once you understand these, the rest of the Act is detail.
1. Every assured tenancy is now periodic from inception. Section 1 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 inserts a new section 4A into the Housing Act 1988. The effect is that every assured tenancy in England, including those that began before 1 May 2026, is now a periodic tenancy. Fixed-term assured tenancies do not exist. Tenants have a statutory right to end the tenancy at any time on at least 2 months' written notice (section 5 HA1988). The notice must end on a day on which rent is due, or the day before.
2. Section 21 has been abolished. Section 2 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 abolishes "no-fault" eviction under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988. Possession of an assured periodic tenancy is now only available via Section 8, on one or more of the grounds in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 (as amended by Schedule 1 of the RRA). Each ground has its own notice period and is either mandatory (the court must order possession if proven) or discretionary (the court may order possession if it is reasonable to do so).
Together, these two changes mean the marketing price a landlord sets on day one is, in practice, the price for the life of the tenancy. The tenant can leave at any time on 2 months' notice; the landlord cannot recover possession to re-let except on a specific Section 8 ground; rent increases are limited by Section 13 and challengeable at the First-tier Tribunal. Day-one pricing is the whole game. The other changes below are the rules that enforce this.
The other changes that matter
Rental bidding is banned. Section 56 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 prohibits soliciting, encouraging, or accepting rent above the figure advertised. The advertised rent is the ceiling, not the starting point. Where more than one acceptable offer is received at the asking rent, allocation is on a first-come basis. Harvey W James operates a strict first-come allocation process. See the Tenants page for the applicant-facing version and the Landlords page for the operational version.
Rent in advance is banned. Two prohibitions apply. Section 8 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 inserts a new section 4B into the Housing Act 1988, banning rent in advance once the tenancy is entered into. Section 9 amends the Tenant Fees Act 2019 to ban pre-tenancy payments of rent in advance. A tenant can pay the first month's rent at the start of the tenancy; anything more is unlawful. The compliant alternative for applicants who would otherwise have offered rent in advance — including international students — is the Goodlord Guarantor service, a regulated third-party guarantor product covering up to three years for a one-off fee.
Discrimination against benefit recipients, families, and certain other groups is banned. Part 1 Chapter 3 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 (sections 33 to 43) prohibits discrimination against prospective and current tenants because they have or might have children, because they receive benefits including Universal Credit or Housing Benefit, or because of certain other protected characteristics already covered by the Equality Act 2010. Discriminatory terms in a tenancy are unenforceable. Discriminatory advertising or refusal can carry financial penalties. Harvey W James assesses every applicant on objective criteria — affordability, references, conduct — applied consistently to everyone.
Rent reviews must go through Section 13, and the Tribunal can be asked to challenge. In-tenancy rent increases are limited to one per 12-month period and must be served via a Section 13 notice on Form 4A, the post-1-May-2026 prescribed form. The minimum notice period is 2 months. The proposed new rent cannot exceed the open-market rent. Section 7 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 inserts a new section 14(A3) into the Housing Act 1988, allowing the tenant to refer the proposed rent to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) before the start date in the notice. The Tribunal cannot order a higher rent than the landlord proposed. The new rent, if any, takes effect from the Tribunal's decision date rather than the original notice date.
Tenants have a right to request a pet. Section 11 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 inserts sections 16A and 16B into the Housing Act 1988. A tenant has the right to request a pet. The landlord must give a written response within 28 days, or 35 days if the landlord reasonably asks for further information. The landlord cannot unreasonably refuse. Reasonable grounds for refusal are listed in section 16B(4) — the most common is where keeping the pet would breach a superior landlord's terms. Unreasonable refusal is a breach of the implied term; the court can order specific performance.
Awaab's Law applies to the private rented sector from 2027. Section 100 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 and Schedule 4 Part 1 extend Awaab's Law to the private rented sector. The operational mechanics are inserted into the Housing Act 2004 as sections 2A and 2B. Awaab's Law takes effect in the private rented sector from 2027, once the Secretary of State makes the supporting regulations. The expected timeframes are 24 hours to investigate and begin emergency-hazard repair, 10 working days to complete repair of significant hazards, and 7 days to make a property safe to occupy if a hazard makes it temporarily uninhabitable. Until the regulations are made, the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 reasonable-time standard continues to apply.
The Decent Homes Standard extends to the private rented sector from 2027. Also under section 100 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 and Schedule 4, the Decent Homes Standard — long applied to the social-rented sector — extends to private rented properties from 2027. Properties failing the standard will face enforcement action and potential restrictions on letting. Harvey W James will publish the operational specification — required works, evidence, and timelines — once the Secretary of State makes the supporting regulations.
A national PRS Database goes live in late 2026. Section 92 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 creates a national Private Rented Sector Database. Once it goes live in late 2026, marketing or letting a dwelling that is not registered will be an offence. Harvey W James manages registration on behalf of managed clients via Lettspay; no client action is required beyond providing the underlying data we already collect at onboarding.
A new PRS Ombudsman handles landlord-conduct complaints from late 2026. Part 2 Chapter 2 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 (sections 64 onwards) creates a mandatory Private Rented Sector Ombudsman covering the conduct of private landlords. Once live in late 2026, every private landlord in England will be required to be a member. The Ombudsman can direct apologies, compensation up to £25,000, and remedial works. This is separate from the Property Redress Scheme, which continues to handle complaints about letting agents (including Harvey W James, membership PRS010914 — verify on the PRS register). The two routes are kept distinct in our Internal Complaints Procedure.
Rent Repayment Orders cover more offences and extend to 24 months' rent. Part 2 Chapter 4 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 expands the Rent Repayment Order regime. Where a landlord has committed certain housing offences — illegal eviction, harassment, breach of a banning order, failure to license an HMO, breach of an improvement or prohibition notice, and others — a tenant can apply to the First-tier Tribunal to recover up to 24 months' rent (extended from the previous 12-month cap). Detailed conditions are in ETC v2.1.5 §75 and on the Internal Complaints Procedure page.
Every existing tenant must be served a written information sheet by 31 May 2026. Schedule 6 paragraph 7 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025, with the supporting Statutory Instrument, requires every existing assured tenant to be served a government-prescribed written information sheet on or before 31 May 2026. For Harvey W James managed properties, we serve the sheet on the tenant on the landlord's behalf and keep a dated copy on file. For non-managed tenancies, the landlord is responsible.
The government's implementation roadmap
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published its phased implementation roadmap for the Renters' Rights Act 2025 on 13 November 2025. The Act is being commenced in three phases: Phase 1 (the bulk of the new tenancy regime) is already in force, Phase 2 (the PRS Database and the new Landlord Ombudsman) begins in late 2026, and Phase 3 (Awaab's Law and the Decent Homes Standard, both extended to the private rented sector) is subject to outstanding consultation.
Phase 1 — already in force (1 May 2026). The measures that came into force on 1 May 2026 are the ones doing the heavy lifting on this page: abolition of Section 21 no-fault eviction, the move to assured periodic tenancies for both new and existing tenancies, the revised Section 13 rent-increase procedure on Form 4A, the rental bidding ban, the rent-in-advance ban (capped at one month), the discrimination ban covering applicants with children or in receipt of benefits, the pet-request right with the 28-day landlord response window, and the strengthened local-council enforcement regime with expanded Rent Repayment Orders. Earlier on 27 December 2025, local councils' investigatory powers under Chapter 3 of Part 4 of the Act commenced separately, ahead of the main 1 May 2026 package. The supporting Written Statement of Terms regulations and the government-published Information Sheet for existing tenancies also took effect on 1 May 2026, with the 31 May 2026 deadline for serving the Information Sheet on every existing tenant captured separately on this page.
Phase 2 — from late 2026. The national Private Rented Sector Database begins its regional roll-out from late 2026, building to full national coverage during 2027. Once live, registration will be mandatory for every PRS landlord, with an annual fee confirmed closer to launch. Each property entry will capture landlord contact details, property details, and the three core safety certificates (Gas, Electric, Energy Performance). The new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman is being established during Phase 2 in two stages: scheme administrator selection 12 to 18 months ahead of go-live, then mandatory landlord membership which the government currently expects in 2028. Separately, the Phase 1 tenancy reforms extend to assured tenancies of social housing provided by registered providers from 2027.
Phase 3 — subject to consultation. The two long-lead Phase 3 measures both apply to private rented properties for the first time. Awaab's Law will be extended to the PRS, setting legally enforceable timeframes within which landlords must make a home safe where serious hazards are present; the detailed implementation timeline is subject to a forthcoming consultation. The Decent Homes Standard will also be extended to the PRS; the government consulted between July and September 2025 on bringing the updated standard into force in either 2035 or 2037, and is currently considering consultation responses ahead of confirming the timeline. The ministerial expectation, set out in the roadmap, is that landlords will commence works earlier than the long-stop deadline wherever feasible.
Source: Implementing the Renters' Rights Act 2025: Our roadmap for reforming the Private Rented Sector, MHCLG, 13 November 2025.
What Harvey W James does about it
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 changes how lettings work, but it does not change why landlords instruct an agent. If anything, it sharpens the case. Below is what we do that is specifically engineered for the post-RRA regime.
Day-one pricing as an analyst exercise, not a sales exercise. We are London Rental Analysts. Our valuation work runs on three years of Rightmove and Zoopla listing-and-enquiry data and a rules-driven methodology — the Four Week Rule, the August demand peak, the third-and-fourth-week-of-the-month enquiries data, the Monday-launch finding. The output is a defensible asking rent that we expect to clear without bidding. Under the bidding ban, this is no longer a "nice to have" — it is the whole product. See the Landlords page for the full version.
Cycle engineering around the August demand peak. The end of fixed-term tenancies does not mean the August re-let cycle has gone away. Demand is still highly seasonal; August still has the highest enquiries-to-listings ratio of any month. Under the Assisted Tenancy Replacement Process set out in ETC §68.1 and the re-letting framework in ETC §68.2, we engineer re-let timing so the new tenancy lands in the August window — even though we cannot lock the tenant into a fixed term. This is the post-RRA cycle answer almost no other agent will articulate.
New-build specialism. Our experience managing diverse new-build units across London is the specialism documented in our Valuation Guide (line 30). New-build landlords typically have higher unit counts, longer planning horizons, and more sophisticated portfolio-level concerns. Under the RRA, the day-one pricing decision compounds across a portfolio — getting it right unit-by-unit matters more than ever. See the Landlords page.
Operational compliance on the new statutory hooks. PRS Database registration, the 31 May 2026 information sheet, the Form 4A Section 13 process, the section 16A pet-request workflow, the §80 statutory checks — all of these are baked into our managed-tenancy process. We update the documented procedure as Secretary of State regulations are made for the parts of the Act that commence in 2027 (Awaab's Law in the PRS, Decent Homes Standard in the PRS).
Where to look next
For the full plain-English explainer of tenant rights post-RRA, see the Tenants page. For the operational pitch and post-RRA pricing approach, see the Landlords page. For the binding-contract version of those operational terms, see the Landlord Terms of Business. For the schedule of every payment a tenant may lawfully be required to make, see the Tenant Fees Schedule. For the complaints procedure and the two external redress routes, see the Internal Complaints Procedure. For specific questions, see the FAQ. For terminology, see the Glossary.
Useful contacts and registers
- General enquiries: 020 3865 1500, info@harveywjames.com
- Aftercare, repairs, and complaints: aftercare@harveywjames.com
- Pet requests: lettings@harveywjames.com
- Property Redress Scheme (agent redress, including Tenant Fees Act enforcement): membership PRS010914 — verify here.
- Propertymark Client Money Protection: membership M0243538 — verify here.
- Information Commissioner's Office (data protection): registration ZA312485 — verify here.
- Published Act text: Renters' Rights Act 2025 on legislation.gov.uk.
This page reflects Harvey W James' operational understanding of the Renters' Rights Act 2025, the Housing Act 1988 (as amended), the Housing Act 2004 (as amended), the Tenant Fees Act 2019 (as amended), the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 (as amended), the Immigration Act 2014, and the Equality Act 2010. It is not legal advice. For the published Act text refer to legislation.gov.uk; for your specific situation seek independent legal advice. Last reviewed against Essential Terms and Charges v2.1.5 (7 May 2026).