The Renters’ Rights Act 2025: A New Era of Opportunity for Landlords

What is the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 — overview

• The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 is a major overhaul of private renting law in England, described as “the biggest change to the private rented sector (PRS) in decades.” 
• It aims both to improve renters’ security, rights, and protections — and to simplify and modernise the regulatory framework for landlords and letting agents. 
• The Act abolishes the “no-fault” eviction mechanism under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988. 
• It replaces many (or all) fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) with a new open-ended tenancy regime.
• It introduces a raft of additional protections and obligations — for example on rent increases, tenant protections (benefits, children, pets), property standards and enforcement. 

For landlords and letting agents, this represents a fundamental shift: from a transaction-based, fixed-term model to a more ongoing, regulated, rights-based renting model.

Key Changes & What They Mean for Landlords

Here are the main changes the Renters' Rights Act brings — and the implications for landlords and letting agents.

End of “no-fault” evictions (Section 21) & switch to open-ended tenancies

• From 1 May 2026, landlords in Private Rented Sector will no longer be able to evict tenants without giving a legally valid reason. 
• All new and existing tenancies will become “Assured Periodic Tenancies” — rolling contracts that continue until a valid eviction notice under a legitimate ground is served. 
• This gives tenants increased security of tenure; for landlords, this might mean longer-term relationships with tenants (which can be good if the tenant is reliable), but reduces flexibility for short-term or fixed-term lets.

Rent increase controls, bans on rent-bidding & upfront deposit limits

• The Renters' Rights Act imposes tighter controls on rent rises — making unlimited or frequent rent increases more difficult. 
• It bans “rent-bidding” practices (where prospective tenants out-bid each other on rent, pushing up prices). 
• There will be restrictions on taking large upfront payments: e.g. limits on how much rent can be demanded in advance/ as deposits. 

Tenant protections: benefits, families, pets

• The Act prohibits discrimination against tenants on benefits or with children — i.e., “no benefits ban / no children ban.” 
• Tenants will have a right to request a pet; landlords must consider such requests and cannot blanket-ban pets without good reason. 

Higher standards for property condition and enforcement, and new oversight

• Over time, the Act aims to bring a “Decent Homes Standard” into the private rented sector — covering property condition, safety, heating/comfort, and other standards previously more common in social housing. 
• A new national database of PRS properties will be created (late 2026) and a new PRS Landlord & Tenant Ombudsman established — meaning more oversight, record-keeping and possibly easier access for tenants to raise complaints. 
• Enforcement powers for local authorities will be strengthened; landlords and letting agents will be under increased scrutiny.