26/03/2026
Phase 1 of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 will be implemented on 1 May 2026 and will affect all landlords in the Private Rented Sector.
Those entities considered to be in the Private Rented Sector, including mental health charities, temporary and supported housing providers that aren’t registered providers of social housing, will need to ensure that they are familiar with the broad legislative changes due to be implemented. They will also need to carefully consider what immediate steps need to be undertaken before 1 May 2026, given that this date will see the biggest change to Housing Law since 1988.
As explored in an earlier article, the Renters’ Rights Act will have a particular impact upon supported housing providers and, one month out from the Commencement Date, you should be mindful of the following key dates:
- 30 April 2026 – The deadline for private landlords of assured shorthold tenancies to effectively serve a valid notice seeking possession under s21 Housing Act 1988, also known as a “no fault” eviction notice and requiring no formal grounds to seek possession of the property;
- 31 May 2026 –Written Statements of Terms and Information Sheet on existing tenants must be served by this date or landlord’s risk fines of up to £7,000 for every failure to provide; and
- 31 July 2026 – the last date to issue a claim for possession under s21 Housing Act 1988.
What should you do now?
There are several practical things that you should have in mind as we get closer to the commencement date:
- Identify which tenants you were intending to serve notice under s21 Housing Act 1988 and ensuring you have the right documentation (Gas Safety Certificates or EPCs for example) to enable you to serve a valid notice;
- Consider whether your tenancy agreements need to be updated to enable you to rely on the existing grounds set out in s8 Housing Act 1988 or those introduced by the Renters’ Rights Act;
- Ensure new tenants are provided with the Written Statement of Terms (or take steps to amend your tenancy agreement for new tenants to reflect these requirements) for all new tenancies granted after 1 May 2026;
- Prepare to serve all existing tenants with the Government produced Information Sheet by 31 May 2026;
- Think about whether your internal policies or NOSP request forms need to be amended to take account of the tests introduced by the new grounds introduced by the Renters’ Rights Act
- Ensure that staff are aware of the changes which will shortly be in place and the expectations that courts will have upon you as landlords in order to recover possession and consider putting training in place to support them; and
- Consider what obligations you have under Management Agreements or Service Level Agreements and how the new Act might impact on these (or make them difficult to comply with).
If you are not fully aware of the changes which are due to take place on 1 May 2026 or if you haven’t yet started your preparations for the change, then you will not be alone. If you would like to discuss how we can help you prepare please contact Matthew Watts or Sarah Orchard, who are current in the process of supporting a number of specialist housing providers with their private rented sector accommodation.
For more housing-related updates, please follow our dedicated Housing page today.
