Renters’ Rights: Latest documents and guidance
As of 1st May 2026, the Renters’ Rights Act is now in force, bringing significant changes to the way you run your lettings business.
The NRLA is here to support you with guides and resources, whether it’s managing your existing tenancies or starting a new one.
This week we have new guidance and documents on rent increases and Section 8 notices in England, as well as a statement of variation for occupation contracts in Wales reflecting the antidiscrimination elements of the Act.
Rent Increases
Under the Renters’ Rights Act, it’s only possible to increase the rent during an assured periodic tenancy once per year and only after serving a Section 13 notice.
The Section 13 notice must come in a prescribed format (4A) and that form must be filled out correctly or the increase could be thrown out by the Property Tribunal.
We have produced guidance for our members on how to approach a rent increase, as well as completion notes on how to fill out the form.
Ending an assured periodic tenancy
With the Renters’ Rights Act abolishing Section 21 notices, landlords will now have to serve a Section 8 notice if they want to end an assured tenancy.
This notice needs to be in the correct format (Form 4a) and state one or more of the possession grounds in Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988.
These possession grounds, and the form itself, have changed since 1st May 2026. The Government has added new grounds for student landlords and selling the property. It has also changed existing ones, like Ground 1 which can now be used to move the landlord or a family member into the property, or Ground 8 which now requires at least three months’ notice.
As with the Section 13 notice, it’s important landlords fill this form out correctly. It’s also important they have evidence the ground exists. Not just because it would invalidate the notice, but also because there are potential fines for misusing possession grounds or giving an invalid notice.
To help our members navigate this, we have added a suite of completion notes for filling out the new Section 8 notice. Advising on typical scenarios like:
- Serious rent arrears
- Selling the property
- Moving in
- Ending a student tenancy.
In addition to this support for new possession notices, we also have guidance for the rules around Section 21 or Section 8 notices served before 1st May 2026.
Renters' Rights Act: Wales Update
The Renters’ Rights Act mostly applies to England only, but it has made some minor changes to the rules for landlords in Wales.
From 1st June 2026, new fundamental terms will be added to most occupation contracts in Wales. These terms prevent landlords from restricting tenants receiving benefits or preventing children living in the property unless they have a legitimate reason to do so.
These new terms are inserted in your contract unless you, or your superior landlord, took out an insurance product before 1st June 2026 that restricts you from letting to tenants on benefits or allowing children to live in or visit the property. In these cases, the terms will only be inserted once that insurance product runs out.
How to comply
Landlords who are affected on 1st June, will need to notify the tenants of the change to their contracts no later than 14th June 2026.
They can do this either by providing a full updated copy of the occupation contract that includes the new terms, or by providing a written statement of variation to their tenants.
To help our members who use our occupation contract template, we have drafted a statement of variation that sets out the new terms and where they are included in the tenancy. It is available here on our occupation contract page.
Does the statement need to be signed by the tenants?
No, as the change happens automatically, you just need to show you have given the information to the tenants. In the NRLA occupation contracts this can be done by emailing the statement of variation to the tenants’ email address(es) and keeping a copy of that email.
