What Is the Renters' Rights Act? A Plain-English Guide for Landlords (UK 2026)

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 (RRA) is the biggest reform of the private rented sector in England in a generation. It came into force on 1 May 2026, which is when Phase 1 took effect. If you're a landlord, here's the short, plain-English version — without the 8,000-word GOV.UK guide.

What this means for you. Five things changed at 00:01 on 1 May 2026, and three things you might have expected didn't. If you've been managing tenancies under the old rules, the biggest practical changes are: no more Section 21 notices, every tenancy is now periodic, rent increases are once-a-year-only via Form 4A, and the rent-tribunal risk is now one-directional (it can only go down). Read the five-and-three below, then jump into the deeper guides for the parts that affect your portfolio.

The five things that changed on 1 May 2026

1. Section 21 "no-fault" evictions are gone. You can no longer serve a Section 21 notice. Pre-existing notices stay live until 31 July 2026 at the latest — see the Form 6A transitional guide for the deadlines per branch. From 1 August 2026, the only route to possession is Section 8 with a specific ground.
2. All assured shorthold tenancies became periodic. If you had an AST (which you almost certainly did, if you're letting privately), it converted to a periodic assured tenancy on 1 May 2026. Fixed terms in existing tenancies no longer have legal effect. New tenancies from 1 May 2026 are periodic by default.
3. Rent increases use Form 4A. There's only one statutory route to increase the rent: serve a Form 4A under Section 13 of the Housing Act 1988 (as amended by RRA 2025 s.6). Once every 52 weeks, at least 2 months' notice, at or below open-market rent. See the Form 4A explained guide for the full procedure.
4. The tribunal can no longer raise your proposed rent. If a tenant challenges your rent increase at the First-tier Tribunal, the tribunal can only confirm your figure or substitute a lower open-market figure. RRA 2025 s.7 ended the pre-RRA two-way risk.
5. A Written Statement of Tenancy Terms is mandatory for every new tenancy. From 1 May 2026, landlords must give every new tenant a Written Statement that meets the prescribed content list in SI 2026/324 Schedule Part 1. The clauses cover parties, rent, term, deposit, repairs, redress — eighteen prescribed paragraphs in total.

Three things that didn't change

It helps to be explicit about what's unchanged, because tenant-side headlines sometimes imply broader reform:

• No statutory cap on rent levels or increases. Rent can still be set at market rates; increases are at or below open-market rent. The Act regulates the process, not the price.
• Possession on substantive grounds still works. Section 8 with Ground 8 (rent arrears — now 3 months / 13 weeks), Ground 14 (antisocial behaviour), Ground 1 (landlord moving in), Ground 1A (landlord selling) and the rest of Schedule 2 are all still available.
• Pre-existing compliance obligations remain. Gas safety, EPC, deposit protection, the right-to-rent scheme — all still apply. The RRA didn't remove them.

What's coming next (Phase 2 and Phase 3)

Phase 1 (1 May 2026) is the largest change. Two further phases are pending:

• Phase 2 — the PRS Database and Ombudsman. A new database of landlords + properties (mandatory registration, fee-based) and a Private Rented Sector Ombudsman scheme. The secondary legislation is expected in late 2026 / early 2027. We'll publish more once the commencement instrument is laid.
• Phase 3 — Decent Homes Standard. A statutory minimum-condition standard for the private rented sector. Implementation targeted for 2035-2037 per the GOV.UK implementation roadmap.

For now, Phase 1 is the focus.

What you need to do as a landlord

If you've not yet acted on the 1 May changes, the four-item priority list is:

1. Audit any pre-1-May Section 21 notices still in your file. Confirm the applicable period and whether you need to issue court proceedings before 31 July 2026.
2. Issue Written Statements for every tenancy starting on or after 1 May 2026. The AST template update post walks through the prescribed-content checklist.
3. Distribute the statutory RRA Information Sheet to every existing tenant by 31 May 2026 (the Information Sheet itself is published by GOV.UK; you just have to serve it).
4. Adjust your rent-increase process to Section 13 / Form 4A, 52-week minimum gap, 2-months notice. The Rent Increase Calculator outputs the dates.

Where to read deeper

If 600 words isn't enough — and most landlords find that it isn't, after a week or two — the full pillar is here:

• Definitive Guide to RRA 2025 — every change in detail, every Section 8 ground, every Phase 2/3 expected date. Long-form (~7,000 words).
• Key Dates for the RRA — the date-by-date timeline of Phase 1, 2, 3 implementation.
• RRA Now Live: What Changed on 1 May 2026 — the commencement-day recap of what took effect at 00:01 on 1 May.

Or run the RRA Readiness Checker to see where your portfolio sits against the Phase 1 obligation set — five minutes, free for the first three properties.

Sources

• Renters' Rights Act 2025 (c. 26) — full text of the Act.
• GOV.UK Guide to the Renters' Rights Act — the official long-form guide.
• GOV.UK Information Sheet 2026 — the statutory Information Sheet landlords must distribute to existing tenants.

This is a plain-English summary of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 for landlords and is not legal advice. The Act is large; specific tenancies and contested possessions turn on facts. For complex situations consult a qualified housing solicitor. Crocker Digital Ltd (Company No. 17008789) and RentersActReady accept no liability for action taken solely on the basis of this article.