Christmas has come. Shorthold tenants are now sitting tenants. You can live there as long as you want to. Just as long as you pay your rent and are neighbourly. Except if your landlord had already served the section 21 notice on you before the end of April 2026. Then it’s just about waiting to see if possession proceedings are issued before the 1st August 2026 cut off. If those possessions proceedings have been issued, it may then take a couple of weeks before you even find out about it. Because a congested civil court system is going to become even more stretched with thousands of landlords issuing their section 21 claims before the statutory cut off. Then there’s the bailiff’s appointment to carry out the actual eviction – which potentially could take much longer. Because bailiffs are going to be very busy.
Being a sitting tenant does not mean that your continued occupation is guaranteed. Because even under the new rules, a landlord can still initiate an eviction process if they can prove a genuine intention to sell the property with vacant possession. But that’s going to be a long-winded process.
For those landlords who are staying in the market, get a reputable letting agent. Someone who is up to speed with the changes. Even if you have to pay a little bit more for that quality of service They will be the people on whom you will be relying to protect your interests. Between now and the end of May 2026, there is work which they need to attend to, to protect you from big financial penalties.
It’s also going to be a busy time for your local council. Especially their homeless team. Everyone who has received a section 21 eviction notice before the 30th April 2026 cut off is going to need somewhere else to live. But only those former tenants with a ‘priority need’ (for example those with children or a serious health condition) can be guaranteed somewhere to live, even if it’s only bed and breakfast. So there’s going to be lots of business for hoteliers.
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If you occupy your home under an assured shorthold tenancy, you may be amongst the thousands of people who have received from your landlord a section 21 eviction notice before the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 takes effect on 1st May 2026. On that day the law changes. Tenants who previously could have been evicted on as little as 2 months notice will then have lifetime security of tenure. Landlords will only be able to evict a tenant if they can prove to a judge that they have legitimate grounds to do so. What this means is that many buy-to-let landlords are trying to get out of the market before the law changes on that date. So what do you need to do if you are a tenant who has received a section 21 eviction notice?
Sit tight. At least for the time being. A landlord who evicts you, still has to go through the process of getting a possession order through the courts, even though there is currently an accelerated process for doing this. And even after a court order has been obtained, the only way which a landlord can forcibly evict a tenant is by engaging the services of a bailiff, which itself can take months.
if you have received a section 21 notice but your landlord has not issued court proceedings against you before a 1st August 2026 cut off date, the Section 21 notice will lapse and the landlord will have to start the whole process again. Only this time round, you will be a sitting tenant. It means that the only way your landlord will be able to evict you is if they can convince a County Court judge that they have legitimate grounds for ending your tenancy. A process which could take up to a year, given the current delays to the court system in the UK.
If you have children living with you, or are pregnant, or are old or have a serious health condition, your local housing authority may have a duty to ensure that you are not left out on the street. In other words, homeless legislation regards you as someone having a ‘priority need’ for rehousing. So don’t forget to get in touch with your local council as soon as possible.
I’m always astonished that any industry still exists in the UK, with the highest energy costs in the world and successive governments which, for as long as I can remember, have been too quick to procure goods and services from abroad, even when it means the loss of UK jobs. Whatever happened to a level playing field? It’s also why I’m encouraged by the Local Government (Exclusion of Non-Commercial Considerations) (England) Order 2026, which allows local authorities to favour either UK companies or those which are locally based, when making procurement decisions. But the new legislation has its limitations:
The ability to favour local industry or that which is UK based only applies to the lowest tier of procurement which does not have to go out to formal tender. This means supplies or services contracts with a value under £207,720 and works contracts which are under £5,193,000
The legislation is permissive. which means that councils are under no obligation to favour local business or that which is UK based. Any council which wishes to use the legislation must update its contract standing orders to allow it to do so and also make clear in any advertisement that bidding is limited to UK companies or those which are locally based
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 goes beyond the abolition of assured shortholds and section 21 no-fault evictions. It also introduces a raft of measures intended to re-balance the legal relationship between residential landlords and their tenants at a time of housing crisis.
Standing behind these reforms are the districts and unitaries which will have the difficult job of policing the new legislation.
Indeed, the reason why new investigatory powers were brought into effect on 27th December 2025 was to give those councils a four-month head start to get their enforcement policies in place before the grand launch of the new legislation on 1st May 2026. Other key structural changes introduced by the 2025 Act, include:
The abolition of fixed term residential tenancies, which means that tenants can vacate on giving as little as 2 months prior written notice to the landlord;
Increased regulation of tenancy documentation;
An obligation on landlords and letting agents to quote a fixed rent when marketing a proposed residential letting and not being allowed to accept anything more than the quoted rent;
Increased restrictions on the amount of money which landlord can ask by way of advance rent;
A 12 months moratorium on re-letting, in circumstances where a landlord relies on one of the new non-fault grounds to recover possession in circumstances where they intend to sell the property or occupy for their own purposes.
A prohibition on discriminating against prospective tenants who either have children or are on benefits. Whilst this does not prevent a landlord from carrying out a financial assessment on a prospective tenant, state benefits must not be treated less favourably than other private income.
It is also made illegal for a landlord to ‘bluff’ a tenant into vacating by pretending to rely on a ground for possession which they cannot substantiate
Just to complicate things further, the 1st May 2026 launch will not apply to all residential lettings. Only those in the private rented sector. Social lettings will for the time being continue to be governed by the existing regime until the reforms are extended to social landlords later in 2026. It means that for the time being there will be two separate tenancy regimes running side by side.
The cost of getting it wrong
For private landlords and letting agents who get it wrong, there will be no second chances. There will be no warning letters. Only financial penalties. Nor is the new enforcement regime intended to be complaints-led.
Government guidance asks local authorities to be proactive in the enforcement of the new tenancy legislation and make full use of the investigatory powers and financial penalties which are made available to them. Local authorities will be incentivised to do this by being able to keep and recycle financial penalties into more enforcement.
Within the legislation there are at least three separate financial penalty regimes and a maximum range of penalties from £4,000 up to £40,000 depending on the nature and seriousness of the breach. The government also encourages councils to use financial penalties in preference to prosecution where it is possible to do so. Some circumstances giving rise to financial penalties require proof on a balance of probabilities whilst the most serious require proof beyond reasonable doubt. In each case, the process is the same.
The council will investigate and issue notice to the landlord or letting agent proposing a penalty of a certain amount and giving an opportunity for representations to be made. On the expiration of the period for representations, the council will serve notice of its decision. The landlord will then have a right of appeal to a first-tier tribunal until the order becomes final.
New investigatory powers already in force enable councils to ask questions, enter business premises and seize documents.
Will the new legislation work?
The Renters Rights Act 2025 does not exist in isolation. Its success is dependent on a courts and tribunal system which actually works. The abolition of the accelerated possession procedure now means that all possession claims will have to go to a court hearing, where the landlord will need to prove its case. Taking account of the time needed to get to a possession hearing followed by a bailiff eviction, that eviction process could take up to a year. Add to that the longer lead-in times introduced by the 2025 Act for all grounds of possession, save those based on antisocial behaviour.
It also means more work for first tier tribunals, who will be tasked with adjudicating appeals against fixed penalties. And of course it means more work for local housing authorities tasked with enforcing the new regime. This workload could increase in 2027 when the government introduces its expected landlord registration scheme, which councils will also be required to police. By 2035, the government is also expected to have introduced its Decent Homes Standard for all residential lettings.
How will it affect the Lettings Market?
The speed at which the legislation is being introduced and the fact that it applies retrospectively, means that many private landlords may not even have a chance to get out of the market. Any landlord who has not served their section 21 notice before 1st May 2026 and issued possession proceedings by the cut off date of 31st July 2026, will be caught by the new regime. We could also see a growing professionalisation of the residential lettings market, as small residential landlords drop out and are replaced by larger professional landlords who are better able to navigate the new legislation. It could also provide opportunities for social landlords to replenish their housing stock as more ex-rental properties come onto the market.
We could also see the re-emergence of avoidance schemes, such as company lets. Or private landlords choosing to lease their properties through intermediaries, such as local authorities or housing associations, who can then shoulder those landlord responsibilities and guarantee a return of vacant possession at the end of the lease. End
First Published in Local Government Lawyer – March 2026
V. Charles Ward Is a senior property lawyer with HB Public Law and the author of Housing Regeneration: a plan for implementation. He is also the author of The Renters’ Rights Act: a practical guide, which is being published through Taylor and Francis and will be released later this year
Once the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 takes effect on the 1st May 2026, private residential landlords in England will have only 1 month to get tenancies correctly documented or face fines of up to £7,000. This means serving existing tenants with a tenant information sheet explaining their new rights under the 2025 Act. These new rights can include lifetime security of tenure, protection against unfair rent increases, the ability to vacate on as little as 2 months prior written notice, and the outlawing of discrimination against tenants who are on welfare or who have children living with them. For landlords who get it wrong, there may be no second chances. Just a financial penalty.
For new tenancies, or those which were previously undocumented, landlords must issue tenants (as well as prospective tenants) with a written statement of terms containing all the information required by the Assured Tenancies (Private Rented Sector) (Written Satement of Terms etc and Information Sheet) (England) Regulations 2026. The content of that written statement of terms must conform exactly to the requirements of the schedule to the 2026 Regulations. That statement can either be standalone or incorporated in a formal tenancy agreement. The Information Sheet to be served on existing tenants must be downloaded as a PDF and must be issued to tenants either as hard copy or by email but exactly in the prescribed format. To help landlords with this, the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government has issued guidance published 20th March 2026 titled, ‘The Renters’s Rights Act Information Sheet 2026: The information sheet about the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 that landlords and their agents must give to tenants’.
Whilst there is no prescribed template for the statement of terms, it is important that particular care is taken to include within these statements of terms any legitimate non-fault grounds of possession to which the tenancy may be subject. Landlords who fail to do this may later have difficulty in recovering possession even when they might otherwise have had legitimate grounds to do so.
The MHCLG Guidance includes the following advice:
the information sheet does not have to be given to lodgers but must be given to every tenant named on the tenancy agreement
the tenant information sheet is only valid when downloaded from the Government website;
the information sheet must be given to tenants either by printing a hard copy and posting or hand delivering to tenants or alternatively sending a PDF electronically as an attachment to an email or text message where it is appropriate to do so. However it is not sufficient just to email or text a link to a tenant;
the legislation does not require landlords to change or reissue an existing written tenancy agreement;
where a tenancy was informally entered into before 1st May 2026 without a written agreement, the landlord must provide a statements of tenancy terms (see above);
Social landlords do not need to provide this information sheet.
BRUCE AND HOLLY 