The Renters' Rights Act explained for landlords

The Renters' Rights Act is the most significant change to the private rented sector in a generation, and it is no longer on the horizon: the main reforms took effect on 1 May 2026. For landlords in Ascot and the surrounding villages, it remains less a reason to worry than a reason to be organised. Here is the plain-English guide, updated now the regime is in force.

Updated August 2026, with the main reforms now live and the first months of practice behind us.

Where we are now

Royal Assent came in October 2025, and from 1 May 2026 the core of the Act switched on: every assured shorthold tenancy converted to a periodic assured tenancy, Section 21 closed to new notices, the amended possession grounds took over, rental bidding was banned and rent rises moved onto the annual Section 13 route. Landlords of existing tenancies also had to give every tenant the government's official information sheet by 31 May 2026. It was a small duty with a deadline, and a surprising number of self-managing landlords missed it; on our managed tenancies it went out as routine.

Still to come, on the government's phased timetable, are the private rented sector database and landlord registration, the new ombudsman membership requirement and the extension of the Decent Homes Standard to private renting. Each has its own lead time, and each will fold into our managed service as commencement dates are fixed.

The end of Section 21

The headline change remains the abolition of Section 21, the so-called no-fault eviction. In its place, landlords regain possession through strengthened and clarified grounds: where they wish to sell the property or move a family member in, or where a tenant is genuinely in breach, among others. Notice periods and evidence requirements are defined for each ground, with protections early in a tenancy.

The practical effect is that possession now rests on evidenced grounds rather than a notice given without reason. Good record keeping, a well-drafted tenancy and professional management have become more valuable, not less, because the file you kept is the case you have.

Periodic tenancies are the norm

Fixed terms have gone. Tenancies roll month to month from day one, and tenants can end theirs with two months' notice whenever life changes. In the first months of the new regime our experience locally has been what we expected: well-chosen tenants in well-managed homes do not use the flexibility to leave, they use it to stay without anxiety. The Act rewards landlords who look after good tenants and keep them, which has always been the profitable strategy anyway.

Rent, and the end of bidding

Rent reviews now run through a single, transparent annual mechanism: a Section 13 notice at open-market level, once every twelve months, with two months' notice and a tribunal as the tenant's backstop. The sensible approach is to keep rents fair and evidenced rather than to rely on above-market rises, and to benchmark against real comparables before serving anything; that is how we run every review.

Just as significant for pricing: offers above the advertised rent can no longer be invited or accepted. The figure a home launches at is now its ceiling, which makes the initial appraisal the whole game. An inflated appraisal used to cost a landlord some awkwardness; now it costs weeks. If you take one action from this article, make it an honest, evidence-based rental valuation.

Pets, standards and the ombudsman

Tenants have gained the right to request a pet, and refusal must be reasonable; appropriate insurance can be required, blanket bans cannot. We hold a standard pet addendum for managed landlords, and in practice the requests so far have been straightforward to accommodate or fairly declined.

The Decent Homes Standard's extension and the ombudsman raise the compliance bar in the direction it was already travelling: safety certificates current and filed, property condition maintained, repairs responded to promptly and demonstrably. Landlords who were already running homes properly will notice little except the paperwork; landlords who were not will find the cost of neglect has gone up. Our compliance checklist sets out every duty in plain English.

What to do now

• Check every tenancy file is complete: gas, electrical, EPC, deposit protection and the May 2026 information sheet, all current and documented.
• Benchmark before any Section 13 notice, and keep the comparables on file.
• Deal with condition and maintenance before they become disputes; the ombudsman route means unresolved repairs now have somewhere to go.
• Take advice before serving any possession notice; the grounds are usable but the evidence requirements are real.
• If you self-manage several properties, be honest about whether you can watch a moving compliance picture across all of them.

How we run it

We run lettings as a professional practice: the notices served correctly, the reviews evidenced, the records inspection-ready and the phased commencements watched so our landlords never meet a deadline by surprise. Every fee for every service level is published on our landlord fees page, and the full plain-English briefing on the Act lives on our Renters' Rights hub, which we keep current as each phase lands.

If you would like your tenancy or your portfolio reviewed against the new rules, book a consultation with our lettings team and we will talk it through, without obligation and without the legalese.