1. End of Section 21 eviction
No new Section 21 notices can be given after this clause comes into force. The Act doesn’t set a specific date for when Section 21 ends—a Commencement Order will be issued for this and other key dates.
Landlords will be able to rely on an existing notice for up to 3 months from the cut-off date. Time limits for using existing notices won’t be extended, so don’t delay.
An existing valid Section 21 notice extends an assured shorthold tenancy for its duration. That means the Deregulation Act defences—including failure to supply a Gas Safety Certificate or How to Rent guide—can still be raised as a defence.
2. All tenancies become assured periodic
All new and existing private tenancies will be assured periodic from a set implementation date. The tenancy period cannot exceed 1 month.
Fixed terms in existing tenancies will be replaced automatically. Tenants can give two months’ notice to end their periodic tenancy, or as little as four weeks if their tenancy agreement allows.
A fixed-term assured shorthold tenancy could be extended for the duration of a valid Section 21 notice.
3. All rent increases can go to a tribunal
All rent increases will require the landlord to serve a valid Section 13 notice. Terms in a tenancy allowing the landlord to increase rent are ineffective, and agreements between landlord and tenant become informal—they can’t be enforced in court by the landlord.
A landlord can use the Section 13 process once every 12 months.
The government will issue guidance about what counts as a reasonable request to keep a pet.
The tenant can challenge the increase through the tribunal process with fewer risks. For example, the rent increase only takes effect from the tribunal decision, not from the notice date, and the tribunal can’t set a rent higher than the landlord’s proposal.
4. Tenants can keep a pet in private rented homes
Private tenants may request permission to keep a pet, and landlords may not unreasonably refuse. The landlord can’t demand a higher deposit or insist on specialist insurance.
A tenancy agreement can’t prevent the tenant from keeping a pet, but a superior lease can.
5. New grounds for possession introduced
The Act introduces or amends 23 possession grounds for assured tenants.
New grounds include the landlord or their family intending to move back in (Ground 1) or the property being sold (Ground 1A). These grounds can’t be used in the first 12 months of the tenancy, and there are penalties for misusing them.
The landlord must not relet the property within 12 months of using Ground 1 or 1A—so don’t even think about it.
The landlord’s mortgage lender will have a mandatory ground for possession regardless of when the tenancy started.
New grounds to replace Section 21 in the social rented sector require additional regulations. The Government doesn’t intend to introduce them at commencement.
6. Ground 8 amended
Ground 8 of the mandatory rent arrears will be substantially amended to make it harder to evict tenants for low levels of rent arrears.
The minimum notice period increases from two weeks to four weeks.
The threshold for rent owed before a notice can be issued increases to 3 months, up from 2 months.
The courts are instructed to disregard arrears that should have been paid by a universal credit housing costs entitlement and could adjourn a claim if it needs more evidence about the benefit claim.
A landlord’s breach of deposit rules can be a substantive defence in a similar way to Section 21 at the moment.
7. Rent repayment orders extended
The grounds for a tenant or local authority to apply for a rent repayment order have been extended to include a new offence of misusing a possession ground.
A tenant will have up to two years from the offence to start the claim, increased from one year. Penalties will double to two years’ rent—ouch.
Under the new Act, rent repayment orders can be made against a superior landlord or a company director, overturning the Supreme Court decision in Rakusen v Jepsen.
Local authorities have powers to impose a financial penalty of £40,000 on landlords in serious cases.
8. New housing standards in the private sector
Awaab’s Law and the Decent Homes Standard will eventually be extended to the private sector.
Awaab’s Law came into force for social tenants on 27 October 2025, the same day the Renters’ Rights Act received Royal Assent. The Decent Homes Standard has been under consultation. We’re waiting for the government to announce how and when it will be implemented.
New regulations are needed for private tenants. There’s no timetable in the legislation for this, meaning it could be delayed by months or even years.
9. Renting discrimination is prohibited
New rules will bring into legislation case law banning unlawful discrimination in private renting.
Terms banning children or benefit claimants from renting a property in a landlord’s insurance, mortgage agreement, or superior lease will have no effect.
The discrimination ban is UK-wide, unlike most of the Act, which applies to England only.
10. Restriction on rent in advance
Private landlords may request up to one month’s rent in advance.
The Tenant Fees Act 2019 will be amended to prohibit rent demands. The landlord can’t even accept a tenant’s offer to pay more rent in advance.
Landlords and tenants can agree between themselves to pay rent in advance once the tenancy has started. This is an informal agreement that can’t be enforced in court if the tenant doesn’t comply.