The Big Three: Your key legislation updates for 2026

It’s difficult to believe, but we already halfway through 2026, with the first six months of the year seeing the biggest changes to private rented sector legislation in a generation. Here we look back at what's changed and what's to come, sharing key dates for your diary.

Renters’ Rights Act

The introduction of the Renters’ Rights Act, of course, is bringing about the most widespread change – with the first phase of the Act coming in on 1st May this year. 

The loss of the fixed term, abolition of the section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction process and restrictions on accepting rent in advance are now in play, and it is now illegal to increase rent more than once a year, encourage rental bidding wars or discriminate against potential tenants in receipt of benefits or with children. 

There are also beefed-up local authority powers to enforce the new rules bringing with them increased penalties of up to £40,000 for getting it wrong, with additional penalties coming in from June 22nd under the revised Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), something you can read more about here.

Dates for your diary

• 14th June: Those of you with properties in Wales have until 14th June to let your tenants know about new rules banning discrimination against tenants with children, or those in receipt of benefits, that were introduced on 1st June.  You can do this by issuing a statement of variation, or a new occupation contract, with more detail available here. 
• 31st July: If you served a section 21 or section 8 notice before the 1st May have until 31st July to apply to start court proceedings. 
• 31st July: If you are a student HMO landlord and informed your tenants you plan to use Ground 4a (the student ground) to take back possession this summer you have until 31st July to serve the section 8 notice to action this if you want to give two month’s notice, rather than four.

What if I have missed earlier compliance dates?

Under the Renters’ Rights Act those of you with existing tenancies were given until 31st May to serve a mandatory information sheet to tenants informing them of changes coming in under the Act, unless you had already started possession proceedings before 1st May – with fines of up to £7,000 for missing the deadline. If you haven't served this yet, we would advise you to do so as soon as possible to, hopefully, avoid fines and/or follow up penalties.  

If you want to repossess your student property, but did not provide the Ground 4A ‘prior notice’ to your student HMO tenants by 31st May this year, you won’t be able to rely on this to regain possession. In this case we would advise you to speak to your student tenants to find out whether they plan to move out – and agree how to terminate the tenancy in a way that works for you both.

What happens next?

Phase 2 of the Act is due to come in ‘from late 2026’ – and will include the introduction of the new PRS database and Landlord Ombudsman.  

The database is set to come first, with the rollout of the PRS database scheduled for autumn in the Government timeline. This will be rolled out regionally – so watch this space to find out when you will need to sign up. End to end digitisation of the courts is due to happen by April next year, with the Ombudsman to be introduced in 2028. 

For all the latest guidance on the Renters’ Rights Act visit our exclusive members’ hub here, and check out our suite of Renters’ Rights training options.  You can also watch a special edition of our Listen Up Landlords podcast on Renters' Rights below:

Making Tax Digital

Making Tax Digital for income tax was introduced those of you earning more than £50,000 a year from property and/or self-employment from 6th April this year. 

MTD requires you to submit quarterly income and expenditure summaries throughout the tax year, in addition to a Final Declaration at year-end. 

The quarterly reports and final declaration, must be submitted direct to HMRC using compatible software, such as our Portfolio property management system, with the scheme to be rolled out to those of you with lower levels of qualifying income over the next two years. 

In the first year of reporting your income for Making Tax Digital, you will also need to complete a traditional self assessment tax return for the previous tax year. 

Dates for your diary

• 7th August: This is the deadline for the first of the quarterly submissions 
• 7th November: The second quarterly reporting deadline. 
• 31st January, 2027: The deadline to submit an annual self assessment tax return for 2025 to 2026. 
• 7th February, 2027: The third quarterly reporting deadline. 
• 7th May, 2027: The fourth quarterly reporting deadline. 
• From April 2027: MTD will be extended to landlords earning £30,000 or more annually. 
• From April 2028: MTD will apply to all landlords with income of £20,000 or more per year.

What if I miss a compliance date?

HMRC is increasing penalties for late submissions and payments and will use a points system to calculate charges. One penalty point will be applied for each missed deadline. If you reach the points threshold of four points, a financial penalty of £200 will be imposed. There will also be penalties proportionate to the tax owed for late payments. You can find out more about this and all things MTD here. 

You can find out more about our Portfolio offer here, and we also offer a Making Tax Digital training course to help you get to grips with the new rules. You can watch an explainer video recorded by our chief policy officer Chris Norris below:

Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards

All landlords, whether signing new tenancy agreements or with sitting tenants, have until 1st October, 2030 to bring properties to Energy Performance Certificate of C or above (or register an exemption) to legally let them out. As approximately 2.5m properties across the country currently fall below this threshold, this will impact a significant number of you.  

Under the new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) rules you will be expected to shell out up to £10,000 per property for improvements, with the resulting EPCs valid for 10 years. 

To confuse matters the Government is also planning to introduce a new methodology when it comes to working out EPC ratings, known as the Home Energy Model (HEM), which will measure the energy efficiency of a property in a different way. You can read about the plans in more detail here. 

Dates for your diary

• October 2025: Any energy efficiency improvements carried out after October last year can be included in the £10,000 cost cap 
• 31st September, 2029: This is the deadline when it comes to getting an EPC using the current methodology. After this the new HEM will be used. After this date to obtain a C, you will likely have to install either solar panels or a heat pump. 
• 1st October, 2030: Your property must have an EPC of C or above – or have a registered exemption - to be legally let out after this date.

What if I miss a deadline?

If you don’t meet a minimum EPC C by 2030 you will no longer legally be allowed to let out your property.

What else is on the cards for the last six months of 2026?

While Renters’ Rights, MEES and MTD have stolen the headlines this year, there is even more change on the cards. The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill was cited in the King’s Speech as a Government priority going forwards. Plans to ban new leasehold flats and cap ground rents are part of a raft of proposals that will fundamentally reshape leasehold ownership in England and Wales, something you can hear more about in our podcast here:

More information

You can find out more about all the issues above on our website, news pages and social media. Our team is also going out into your communities to share all the latest news as part of our NRLA Connect programme. Check out our events page here for all the latest dates.