Renters' Rights Act

The Renters’ Rights Bill was introduced to Parliament on 11 September 2024.

The bill received Royal Assent on 27 October. The bill is now an Act of Parliament (law).

The bill was not significantly different from its predecessor, the Renters (Reform) Bill.

The Labour government’s landmark legislation introduces several protections for renters, including:

• a ban on ‘no-fault’ section 21 evictions
• scrapping fixed-term tenancies and replacing these with periodic tenancies, which tenants can end with two months’ notice
• making it illegal for landlords and agents to discriminate against prospective tenants in receipt of benefits or with children
• an end to bidding wars by no longer allowing offers above the listed price to be asked for, encouraged or accepted
• a new Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the private rented sector (PRS)
• applying Awaab’s Law to the PRS, requiring landlords to address hazards, such as damp and mould, within a specified time period
• a new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman for landlords and tenants in England
• a PRS database that all landlords must register themselves and their properties on

Our view

We welcome the long-awaited reforms to the private rented sector. We particularly support the end to no-fault evictions, as the previous government chose to delay the ban until further court reform.

We’re pleased that our calls to stop landlords asking for more than one month’s rent upfront have been accepted. This helps make renting fairer and more accessible for prospective tenants and will make a real difference to their lives.

However, the act will not achieve its aims without investment for the courts and housing legal aid.

We raised concern that the act may lead to an increase in contested hearings in the short term, as landlords that would previously have used no-fault provisions will instead have to show good reason for eviction.

During the bill’s progression through parliament, we called for the government to outline:

• how it intends to manage increased demand on the courts
• what additional resourcing it will put in place to deal with existing backlogs

More information on our asks and suggested amendments to the bill can be found in our briefings below.

Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions are a leading cause of homelessness. Local authorities struggle to find the resources to act against rogue landlords under the Deregulation Act 2015.

However, we recognise that with the abolition of ‘no-fault’ evictions, it is important that landlords have expanded grounds to repossess their properties using section 8 eviction notices.

A section 8 notice gives the tenant a specified period to remedy the issues raised or vacate the property before the landlord can proceed with legal action to regain possession.

We support the decision to widen the grounds for possession under section 8, as well as the extended protected period at the beginning of a tenancy to 12 months, during which landlords cannot evict tenants to move in or sell the property.

Restrictions in the act will also prevent reletting or remarketing the property for 12 months following the service of a possession notice on these grounds.

This will provide a much greater level of security in the rental market which we welcome.

The introduction of a new Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law to the PRS will mean landlords will be required to investigate and fix reported health hazards (such as damp and mould) within specified time frames.

We hope that this, alongside the new PRS database, will help identify and remove serially negligent landlords.

The act will also make it illegal to accept offers over the advertised rent.

Landlords can only increase rent once a year, capped at the ‘market rate’. This is defined as the price that would be achieved if the property was newly advertised to let.

If a tenant believes this exceeds the market rate, they can challenge this at the First-tier Tribunal.

Enforcing the provisions of the act will require more clarity and further resourcing to be effective.

Local authorities must be provided with the resources they need to make their enforcement powers effective.

Funding for recruitment and training is needed to enhance capacity in council enforcement teams and support the sharing of best practice between councils.

Find out more about our court reform work.

Our briefings

Read our briefings to MPs and peers on the bill:

• Parliamentary briefing for the Lords second reading (PDF 200 KB)
• Parliamentary briefing for the Lords committee stage (PDF 190 KB)
• Parliamentary briefing for Commons consideration of Lords amendments (PDF 135 KB)

Next steps

For more information on how the reforms will be rolled out, the government has published an implementation timeline.

The reforms will be introduced in three phases.

Starting from 1 May 2026, no-fault evictions will be abolished and fixed-term assured tenancies in the PRS will end.

Phase 1 will remove some of the barriers that stop people renting in the PRS, such as requests for large amounts of rent in advance and rental bidding. It also strengthened the rights of tenants to request a pet.

Read the legislation:

• Renters' Rights Act
• Guide to Renters' Rights Act

Timeline

• 1 May 2026 – start of phase 1 provisions
• 27 December 2025 – start of new local council enforcement measures and investigatory powers
• 27 October 2025 – Renters’ Rights Bill received Royal Assent
• September 2024 – first reading in the House of Commons
• July 2024 – the Renters' Rights Bill was confirmed in the king's speech