The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 — the biggest change to renting in 30 years

Renting should be straightforward — and the law is about to make it even clearer. A significant piece of new legislation, the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, comes into force on 1 May 2026 and brings some genuinely positive changes for tenants. Here’s what it means for you.

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 became law in October 2025 and is widely regarded as the biggest reform to private renting in over 30 years. The main changes take effect on 1 May 2026 — and they apply to existing tenancies as well as new ones.

If you already have a tenancy agreement with us, you won’t need to sign anything new. We’ll make sure you receive the government’s official information sheet explaining the changes well before the 31 May 2026 deadline.

Your tenancy becomes a rolling contract

From 1 May 2026, all fixed-term tenancies automatically become rolling month-to-month contracts — known as assured periodic tenancies. In practice this means:

• Your tenancy continues rolling until one of you ends it properly
• You can give two months’ written notice to leave at any time, from day one
• If your current agreement has an end date after 1 May 2026, that end date no longer applies — your tenancy simply continues

For most students, this means greater flexibility over when you choose to move on.

Greater security of tenure

The Act introduces stronger protections around how and why a landlord can ask you to leave. From 1 May 2026, any notice to end a tenancy must be based on a specific legal ground — such as significant rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, or a landlord needing to sell or move back into the property. The standard notice period in most cases is four months.

For tenants who look after their home and keep up with their rent, this brings real peace of mind.

A note on end-of-year moves for shared houses

There is one exception worth knowing about, specific to student shared houses. If you’re living in an HMO — a house shared by three or more unrelated people — your landlord can use a student possession ground called Ground 4A at the end of the academic year, to allow the property to be re-let to the next cohort of students.

For this to apply, your landlord must:

• Have given you written notice of their intention to use this ground (for existing tenancies, by 31 May 2026)
• Give you a minimum of four months’ written notice
• Specify a move-out date between 1 June and 30 September

This ground cannot be used to ask you to leave mid-year, and proper notice must always be given — so you’ll have plenty of time to make arrangements.

Rent increases — once a year, with notice

From 1 May 2026, rent can only increase once every 12 months. Your landlord must serve a formal Section 13 notice giving at least two months’ warning before any increase takes effect. Any existing rent review clauses tied to RPI or similar indices become unenforceable — the statutory process takes over.

If you believe a proposed increase is above the going market rate, you have the right to challenge it at the First-Tier Tribunal.

Clearer rules on rent payments

The Act sets out clear rules on how rent can be collected. For tenancies signed from 1 May 2026, the maximum that can be requested at the start is one month’s rent in advance. Landlords are also prohibited from inviting or accepting offers above the advertised rent.

Prefer to pay termly? We’re happy to arrange that

Student loan payments tend to arrive in one lump sum each term, and some students find it easier to pay their rent in the same way rather than managing smaller monthly amounts from that sum.

While the new rules mean we cannot require termly payments, the law does allow you to choose this arrangement if you prefer it. If paying each term in one go works better for your budgeting, just let us know and we’ll set that up. There’s no obligation either way — it’s simply there as an option.

Pets — you can ask

From 1 May 2026, you have a legal right to request a pet. We must respond within 28 days and can only refuse for a genuine reason. If we agree, we may ask you to arrange pet insurance to cover any potential damage — that’s a permitted condition under the Act.

Property standards

Later phases of the Act will introduce a Decent Homes Standard for private rentals, setting a legal baseline for property condition. Awaab’s Law — which establishes enforceable timeframes for landlords to address damp, mould, and serious hazards — will also extend from social housing to the private rented sector.

Local councils will gain new powers to investigate and act where landlords fall short. We welcome these changes — they reflect how we already aim to operate.

A landlord register and ombudsman are coming

A later phase of the Act will introduce a national Private Rented Sector database, with mandatory landlord registration, alongside a compulsory Landlord Ombudsman scheme giving tenants a free, independent complaints route outside of the courts. This is expected to be in place by 2028.

If you decide to move on — a small favour

When you give notice, you’re under no legal obligation to find a replacement tenant — that’s our job. What does help enormously, though, is being able to show the house to prospective tenants during your notice period. We’ll always give at least 24 hours’ notice before any viewing and will work around you as much as possible.

If you happen to know someone looking for a place — a friend, coursemate, or someone in the year below — we’d obviously love an introduction. It’s not something we’d ever make a condition of anything, but it does help keep the house within the student community, which tends to work well for everyone.

Any questions?

If anything here raises a question about your tenancy specifically, please get in touch — we’re always happy to talk things through.

For independent advice, the following are useful resources:

• Shelter — shelter.org.uk — free housing advice and support
• Citizens Advice — citizensadvice.org.uk — rights, disputes, and practical guidance
• Gov.uk — search “Renters Rights Act overview for tenants” for the official government guidance

This post reflects the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 as it applies from 1 May 2026. It is for general information — if you have a specific legal question, please seek independent advice.