The Renters’ Rights Act came into force on 1 May 2026, and it’s the biggest change to how tenancies work in England in over 30 years. A lot has been written about it from the tenant side. Here’s what actually matters if you’re the one letting the property.
Section 21 is gone
You can no longer end a tenancy just because you want to, without giving a reason. Every fixed-term assured shorthold tenancy became a rolling periodic tenancy from 1 May 2026, and any possession now has to go through Section 8, citing one of the specific legal grounds: rent arrears, selling the property, moving in yourself or a family member, and so on.
The notice period gap that catches landlords out
This is the change we think Winchester and Southampton landlords are least ready for. A tenant can now end their tenancy with two months’ notice, from day one, no fixed term to hold them to it. A landlord who wants the property back to sell or move in has to wait until the tenancy is at least twelve months old before that ground can even apply, and then give a minimum of four months’ notice on top. In practice, a tenant can be gone in two months if they choose to leave, but a landlord who needs the property back is looking at over a year before they can get it. That asymmetry is the real story of this Act for anyone letting a property, more than the headline “no more Section 21.”
Rent increases: one a year, done properly
Rent can only go up via a formal Section 13 notice now, and it can’t be backdated. If a tenant challenges the increase at tribunal, the new rent can’t be set higher than what you originally proposed. This changes very little for us in practice, because we’ve never recommended raising rent more than once a year anyway. If that’s already how you run things, this part of the Act won’t touch you.
Other changes worth knowing
No more than one month’s rent can be taken in advance on a new tenancy, and rent bidding, where an agent invites offers above the asking rent, is banned. Tenants now have a contractual right to request a pet, though you can still say no with a legitimate reason. Blanket “no DSS,” “no benefits” or “no children” policies are now a specific civil offence, not just something a tenant could challenge after the fact, more on that in our guide to letting to Universal Credit tenants.
Our honest take
Overall, it’s a fair change and one that was overdue. Where it gets rough is the notice period gap above, that’s a genuine new risk for landlords, particularly anyone who might need their property back within a reasonable timeframe. But if you’re a decent landlord with a fairly priced, well-maintained property, in our experience you won’t feel much of this. The landlords who feel it hardest are the ones who were relying on the old system’s imbalance, cheap notice, backdated rent rises, refusing tenants on flimsy grounds. If that’s not how you were operating anyway, this Act mostly just formalises what good practice already looked like.
If you want a second opinion on where your tenancies stand under the new rules, get in touch, or read how we handle the day to day of fully managed lettings under the new Act.
Owner of HTG Property Group and HTG Mortgages, based in Winchester.
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