New Renters Rights Act to bring first reforms in 40 years

Date published: 29th January 2026

New Government reforms introduce new responsibilities and rights for landlords and tenants designed to improve living standards, increase transparency in contracts and provide greater security for tenants.

The Renters Rights Act 2025 was passed into law in October 2025, and as of December 2025, Councils were granted greater powers to investigate and enforce standards in the private rented sector.

For landlords and letting agents there are a list of new responsibilities and changes to understand. These will be valid from 1 May 2026:

• An end to Section 21 evictions – Landlords can only evict tenants with a specific, legally valid reason called ‘possession grounds’. This will protect tenants, but also help landlords to evict tenants who commit anti-social behaviour.
• An end to Fixed-term tenancies – Tenancies will be ‘rolling tenancies’, and will be ended when either the tenant gives two months’ notice, or the landlord serves a valid order to end it.
• An end to rental bidding and repeat rent increases: Tenancies will be advertised at a set price and landlords will have to follow a legal process for increasing the rent, limited to once per year.
• An end to rental discrimination: Landlords will not be able to act in a way that discriminates against prospective renters, such as preventing viewings or refusing a tenancy because they have children or receive benefits.
• Fair pet policies: Landlords must consider and respond to tenant requests for pets, and have to provide valid reasons if they choose to refuse it.

Housing charity Shelter have advice for private tenants about the Renters Rights Act:

Cllr. Jill Boyle, portfolio holder for Housing & People Services, said:

“We welcome reforms that bring more stability and protections to the private rented sector and encourage both tenants and landlords to learn the new rights and responsibilities.”

Cllr. Callum Ringer, portfolio holder for IT, Environmental Services & Waste said:

“These rental reforms mean that the Council can take more action to make sure that tenancies are lawful, and landlords have followed procedure otherwise they will face Civil Penalties. It also brings in more enforcement powers to ensure tenants aren’t subjected to hazardous or substandard living conditions, such as excess cold, damp or mould. Similarly, these reforms also mean that we can support landlords with anti-social tenants and lawful evictions.”

In North Norfolk, the Housing Tenure as of 2021, showed that 17.7% of households were in private rented properties.

More info for tenants and landlords can be found via www.north-norfolk.gov.uk/rentersrightsact2025

Read the Renters Rights Act 2025 Act in full via the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.