16/10/2026
Regulations now set out what a landlord redress scheme must provide. The details of the scheme, and when membership will become mandatory, are still to come.
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 provides for a landlord redress scheme for the private rented sector in England. The Private Landlord Redress Schemes (Approval and Designation) Regulations 2026, which came into force on 17 September 2026, establish the requirements a scheme must meet to be approved or designated by the Secretary of State. They mark a further step in putting the Act’s redress framework in place.
What will the scheme do?
The framework is intended to give prospective, current and former tenants, or someone acting on their behalf, a route to complain about landlords who are a member of a scheme. Complaints must be independently investigated and determined through a process that is impartial, transparent and consistent with the scheme’s rules.
Each scheme will set out how complaints are made and handled, including how long a landlord has to try to resolve an issue before it can be referred. Schemes must also allow complaints about a landlord’s failure to comply with relevant codes of practice or standards issued or approved by the Secretary of State.
A scheme must be able to require a landlord to:
Provide an apology or explanation
Pay compensation, up to a maximum of £25,000
Take, or refrain from taking, specified action for the complainant’s benefit
The scheme must also include mechanisms for securing compliance where a landlord does not carry out a redress order. The consequences of non-compliance will depend on the scheme rules and the wider enforcement provisions of the Act.
For landlords, this means complaints may need to be handled in a more formal and accountable way. Once membership is mandatory, landlords will need to belong to an approved or designated scheme and follow its rules. A complaint that has not been resolved directly may be considered independently, and a landlord may be required to provide redress.
The Government’s implementation plans currently envisage the redress service becoming operational, and membership becoming mandatory, in 2028. The precise commencement date and detailed operating arrangements remain to be confirmed.
Landlords can start preparing by reviewing how they:
Receive, acknowledge, investigate and respond to complaints
Keep records of tenant communications, decisions and remedial work
Ensure staff and managing agents know who is responsible for resolving complaints and escalating them
Identify and address any gaps against relevant landlord standards or codes of practice
Monitor complaints and redress decisions so recurring issues can be assessed
What should landlords and providers consider?
The Regulations establish the conditions for a scheme; they do not, by themselves, require every landlord to join one immediately. The Government’s implementation roadmap expects mandatory membership in 2028, once the service is ready, with advance notice to landlords.
Landlords can use the lead-in period to consider how they receive, record and respond to tenant complaints. Clear records of communications, decisions and remedial work may help landlords demonstrate how an issue was handled if it is later referred to a scheme.
Providers with mixed portfolios should identify which homes and letting activities are likely to fall within the private landlord redress regime. Registered providers with market-rent or other non-social housing may need to distinguish complaints falling within the new scheme from those within the jurisdiction of the Housing Ombudsman. The interaction between the two regimes will be particularly important for organisations operating across several tenures.
Awaab’s Law consultation opens
Separately, the Government has opened a consultation on how Awaab’s Law should be extended to private rented tenancies in England, and if so how, corresponding protections should apply to certain accommodation occupied under licence. The consultation was published on 9 October 2026 and closes at 11:59 pm on 18 December 2026.
The extension to private rented tenancies is already provided for by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. The principal question is therefore not whether private tenants should receive Awaab’s Law protection, but how the requirements should operate in practice. By contrast, the possible application of the regime to accommodation occupied under licence remains under consultation. The Government is seeking views particularly in relation to supported housing, temporary accommodation provided to homeless households and accommodation for care leavers.
Awaab’s Law currently requires social landlords to investigate qualifying hazards, communicate their findings and carry out safety work within prescribed periods. Its extension to the private rented sector would introduce legally enforceable procedural deadlines for responding to serious housing hazards. The Government’s impact assessment indicates that the intended focus is on setting timescales and processes for complying with landlords’ existing responsibilities, rather than imposing wholly new obligations to undertake works for which a landlord is not otherwise responsible.
The consultation seeks evidence on matters including:
The hazards and risk thresholds that should bring the requirements into operation
The time allowed to investigate a reported or suspected hazard
The information that must be provided to the tenant or licensee following an investigation
The periods within which safety work should begin and be completed
The treatment of emergency hazards
The circumstances in which suitable alternative accommodation should be provided
How the requirements should operate where access, ownership structures or third-party responsibilities affect the landlord’s ability to complete work
Record-keeping and evidential requirements
The costs and practical effects for landlords, licensors, managing agents and accommodation providers
The Government has not yet confirmed the final private-sector timescales or commencement date. The eventual requirements will need to be set out in secondary legislation after the consultation responses have been considered.
Landlords and providers may nevertheless wish to review their current arrangements for identifying and triaging reports of damp, mould and other hazards; commissioning inspections; communicating findings to occupants; retaining repair and access records; escalating emergency cases; and arranging temporary accommodation where a home cannot safely remain occupied. Supported housing and temporary accommodation providers should also consider whether their existing systems draw clear enough distinctions between ordinary responsive repairs, safeguarding concerns and hazards requiring urgent technical investigation.
The consultation can be accessed here.
Looking ahead
The Regulations provide the framework for approving and designating landlord redress schemes. Further decisions are needed before membership becomes mandatory, including establishing the service and giving landlords notice of the requirements. For now, landlords and providers can review how complaints are handled and consider which parts of their portfolios may be affected as the reforms progress.
Should you require further advice and guidance on this, or the wider implications of the RRA 2025, please do not hesitate contact Sarah Orchard or Joshua Kear.
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