Tenancy reform in the Renters' Rights Act
The Renters' Rights Act has started to come into force as of 1 May 2026.
It makes substantial changes to how your rental business operates and the documents you use.
One of the most significant areas of change is around tenancy agreements. The Act makes several substantial changes, such as -
- Banning fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies
- Amending the rules around ending a tenancy
- Implying new obligations into tenancy agreements that landlords must follow
- Changing the terms of superior leases
- Mandating the contents of tenancy agreements
This guide is designed to help you understand what has changed and the potential impact on your rental business.
Tenancies this guidance applies to
Unless otherwise stated, this guidance applies to all assured tenancies (including assured tenancies that were assured shorthold tenancies) in England.
You will probably have one of these tenancies if :
- The tenants have exclusive occupation over the whole property or a room within the house
- The rent is between £250 and £100,000 per annum
- The tenants are people rather than an organisation such as a company
- The property will be the tenant's main home
- The landlord does not live in the same property as the tenant.
Tenancies to be periodic from the start
From 1 May 2026, fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies are abolished in most cases. Instead, tenancies will be periodic assured tenanices from the outset.
This includes tenancies entered into before 1st May 2026. These existing tenancies convert to assured periodic tenancies (APTs) on 1st May 2026 unless the landlord is currently seeking possession after serving a Section 21 or Section 8 notice served before 1st May 2026.
New tenancies entered into on or after 1 May 2026 must provide for the rent to be paid monthly (or for any period up to 28 days in length), and landlords cannot demand more than a month's rent at any one time.
Duty to provide a written statement for new tenancies
From 1 May 2026, the Renter's Rights Act imposes a new duty on landlords to provide a written statement of key tenancy terms and obligations to their tenants before an assured tenancy is entered into (i.e., signed by all parties).
This written statement must include the mandatory information and statements required by the Government; failure to do so may result in you being fined up to £7,000.
How to give the written statement to your tenant
The mandatory information in the written statement can either be included in a larger tenancy agreement or given as a standalone document.
We recommend including it in your full assured tenancy agreement so tenants can sign it and confirm they understand and agree to all their obligations and rights under the tenancy. The NRLA's assured periodic tenancies include all of this information.
What content is required in a written statement?
The mandatory information that must be included in the written statement are:
- Details of the tenancy: The names of all landlords and tenants, the address of the property being let out, the date the tenant is first entitled to possession, and an address in England or Wales where the tenant may serve notice on the landlord.
- Details of the rent and other payments: The amount of rent payable and when it is due (no more than a month for any one rental period), a statement that rent may only be increased via a Section 13 notice, the amount of security deposit taken, whether any relevant bills are included in the rent, and whether any additional payments for relevant bills must be made (including details of when and how these payments will be made).
- Tenant's notice: The minimum notice period a tenant must give to end the tenancy - normally two months' but you can agree for this to be shorter.
- Landlord's notice: A statement explaining that, usually, the landlord can end a tenancy only by obtaining a possession order and enforcing it, and obtaining a possession order will usually require the landlord to serve a Section 8 notice in a prescribed form, which sets out a possession ground and gives notice in line with that possession ground.
- Safety duties: Statements summarising the landlord's obligations to keep the property in repair, fit for human habitation, and to ensure the gas and electrical safety regulations are followed.
- Equality Act improvement requests: A statement explaining that a tenant with a disability may request adjustments to the property to facilitate their enjoyment of the property. This information should include a statement that landlords may not unreasonably refuse a tenant's request in these cases.
- Pets: A statement explaining that tenants may request a pet in writing and that a landlord may not unreasonably refuse the request.
If the property is let as supported accommodation, then additional information explaining why it meets the criteria for supported accommodation must be included.
You may also include statements explaining that you may use one of the 'prior notice' grounds under Section 8, but you can also provide them separately. The most common ones in the private rented sector are likely to be Grounds 2ZB and 2ZD (where a long lease of more than 21 years) is coming to an end and Ground 4A (where the property is a HMO let to students).
Written statement requirements for existing tenancies
On 1st May 2026, existing assured shorthold tenancies converted to Assured Periodic Tenancies unless the landlord was already seeking possession.
These existing tenancies must follow most of the same rules that apply to new tenancies.
However, the rules around providing a written statement of the tenancy are different. Unless your tenancy is wholly verbal, you will only have to provide the official Government Information Sheet and you do not need to agree a new tenancy. The Information Sheet is available here. This needs to be given by 31 May 2026.
Information on how to serve the document and specific guidance and templates to support students is available on our existing tenancy page.
Existing tenancy where the landlord is seeking possession
If you started to regain possession of the property before 1 May 2026, then your tenancy will remain as an assured shorthold tenancy until possession proceedings conclude.
This means that your tenancy will remain as an AST while you have:
- Served a valid Section 21 or Section 8 notice before 1 May 2026, and the notice has not run out yet (all notices run out on 31st July 2026 if they have not already done so);
- An ongoing possession claim following a Section 21 or Section 8 notice served before 1 May 2026;
- A possession order due to either of the above.
While the tenancy remains an AST, the Renters' Rights Act changes to tenancies don't apply. Accordingly, you will not need to provide a written statement or the information sheet.
However, if your possession proceedings fail, or your notices expire without being used, the tenancy will become an assured periodic tenancy. At that point you will have one month to provide the information sheet (if the tenancy is in writing) or the written statement of terms (if the tenancy is not in writing).