On 1 May 2026, the framework that has governed most private-sector tenancies in England since 1996 changes. Assured shorthold tenancies — the familiar AST — automatically become assured periodic tenancies under the Renters' Rights Act 2025. The change is not a minor tidy-up. Section 21 "no-fault" evictions are abolished. Fixed-term tenancies disappear as an option for most residential lets. The rent-increase process becomes statutory. New grounds for possession replace the old ones. This article explains what changes, what stays the same, and what renters and landlords in England should do in the weeks around the commencement date.
This is a factual overview, not legal advice. The authoritative sources are the Renters' Rights Act 2025 (chapter 26) on legislation.gov.uk, the gov.uk private-renting-evictions guidance, the government's guide to the Act, and the gov.uk tenancy-deposit-protection guidance — each cited below.[¹][²][³][⁴]
What the Act is
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. It applies to England only — Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish residential tenancy law is governed separately. The Act reshapes the private rented sector in four structural ways: it replaces assured shorthold tenancies with a new assured periodic tenancy, abolishes Section 21 no-fault evictions, restructures the grounds for possession, and layers in new obligations on landlords through a Private Rented Sector Database, a mandatory ombudsman service, and the extension of the Decent Homes Standard to the private sector.
The specific transition mechanic for existing tenancies is confirmed in gov.uk guidance: "From 1 May 2026 assured shorthold tenancies will automatically become assured periodic tenancies."[²] The conversion is automatic — tenants and landlords do not need to sign new paperwork for existing tenancies to flip. What they do need to do is understand which of the old rules still apply to their tenancy after 1 May and which do not.
The conversion itself
After 1 May 2026:
- All new residential tenancies in the private sector in England start as assured periodic tenancies. Fixed-term ASTs can no longer be created for standard residential lets.
- All existing ASTs convert to assured periodic tenancies on the same day. If you were on a 12-month fixed-term AST that still had six months to run, the fixed-term element disappears and the tenancy becomes periodic from 1 May.
- The tenant's right to leave becomes uniform: the tenant may end the tenancy at any time by giving at least two months' written notice. The old Section 21 route for tenants to leave at the end of a fixed term is replaced by this simpler exit.
- The landlord's right to possession changes fundamentally (see below).
One important consequence: anyone currently on a fixed-term AST who was planning to stay for the full term is not forced out by the conversion. The conversion gives the tenant more flexibility (ability to leave on two months' notice rather than wait for the term) and removes the landlord's fallback to a no-reason Section 21 notice at the end of the term.
Section 21 is abolished
Under the old AST regime, a landlord could end a tenancy without giving any reason by serving a Section 21 notice after the end of the fixed term (or after a break clause), provided certain procedural requirements were met. This "no-fault" route accounted for a substantial share of eviction cases.
From 1 May 2026, Section 21 no longer exists for most private rented sector tenancies in England. A landlord who wants possession must use one of the specific grounds under Section 8 (as restructured by the Act). The grounds fall into two broad categories:[³]
- Mandatory grounds. If the landlord proves the ground at the First-tier Tribunal or County Court, the court must award possession. Mandatory grounds include serious rent arrears (three months or more), antisocial behaviour at a serious level, the landlord or a close family member moving into the property, and the landlord selling the property.
- Discretionary grounds. The court may award possession if the ground is made out and the court considers it reasonable. Discretionary grounds include less severe rent arrears, persistent late payment, and breaches of other tenancy terms.
Two notable protections apply to the landlord-occupation and sale grounds: they cannot be used in the first 12 months of a tenancy, and the notice period for these grounds is extended to four months.[³] Together these changes mean the Section 21 equivalent — a landlord who simply wants the tenant out without a tenant-side fault — now requires either a 12-month waiting period plus genuine occupation or sale intent, or one of the fault-based grounds above.
Rent increases
The rent-increase process becomes statutory. From the commencement date:
- Landlords can increase rent at most once per year.
- A landlord raising the rent must serve a written notice giving at least two months' advance notice of the increase.
- The proposed increase must be to the market rate.
- A tenant who believes the proposed rent exceeds the market rate can challenge it at the First-tier Tribunal.
Two specific protections in the tribunal process are worth noting: the tribunal cannot set the rent higher than the figure the landlord proposed, and the new rent does not backdate to the date of the notice — it takes effect from a later date to avoid penalising tenants who exercise their challenge right.[³]
Deposits and advance rent
The Tenancy Deposit Protection regime continues unchanged. A landlord who takes a deposit on a residential tenancy must still protect it in one of the three government-approved schemes — Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits, or Tenancy Deposit Scheme — within 30 days of receipt, and provide the tenant with the prescribed information.[⁴] The three schemes remain the exclusive statutory mechanisms for deposit protection on standard residential tenancies in England.
The deposit caps imposed by the Tenant Fees Act 2019 — which limit deposits to a small multiple of the rent, with a higher cap for high-rent tenancies above a statutory annual-rent threshold — also continue. The Renters' Rights Act does not change the Tenant Fees Act regime.
What is new is a restriction on advance rent. Under the Act, landlords can require at most one month's rent (or 28 days' rent for tenancies with rental periods shorter than one month) as rent paid in advance, and only after the tenancy agreement has been signed. Pre-signing demands for larger advance payments become unenforceable.[³] This closes a workaround some landlords used to extract what were effectively additional deposits outside the Tenant Fees Act framework.
Pets, discrimination, and bidding
Three further provisions are worth understanding because they change the reading of standard lease clauses:
- Right to request a pet. Tenants have a strengthened right to ask for a pet, and the landlord cannot unreasonably refuse.[³] A blanket "no pets" clause in a new tenancy agreement is no longer a complete answer. Landlords may refuse on documented reasonable grounds, and disputes can be escalated to the new ombudsman service or to the courts.
- Anti-discrimination provisions. The Act prohibits common forms of discriminatory letting practice — "No DSS" policies (blanket refusal of tenants in receipt of housing benefit) and blanket refusals to let to families with children. Clauses or advertising that signals such a policy become unlawful.
- Rent-bidding ban. Landlords and agents must publish an asking rent and are prohibited from inviting or accepting offers above that rent.[³]
For anyone reading a tenancy agreement under the new regime, these provisions mean some standard clauses from the pre-2026 AST era are no longer enforceable even where they appear in the lease. For the general pattern of reading a lease across jurisdictions, see our universal lease-reading checklist.
New obligations on landlords
The Act creates three structural obligations that did not exist before:
- Private Rented Sector Database. Landlords must register their rental properties on a central database. Penalties for non-registration include civil penalties and an inability to obtain a possession order (with a narrow antisocial-behaviour exception).
- Mandatory ombudsman service. Landlords must join a new ombudsman scheme that handles tenant complaints for free. Non-membership carries civil penalties.
- Decent Homes Standard. The Decent Homes Standard, long applied in social housing, is extended to private-sector tenancies. This imposes minimum condition, repair, and safety requirements that the tenancy itself cannot waive.
- Awaab's Law extension. The duties to remediate damp, mould, and other hazards within fixed timescales — already in force for social housing under "Awaab's Law" — are extended to the private sector.
The penalty framework for breaches is significant: civil penalties for minor breaches are capped around the low thousands of pounds, and serious or repeat breaches can attract penalties up to £40,000.[³] Criminal prosecution is available for egregious violations.
What this means for existing tenancies
If you are currently on an AST in England, on 1 May 2026 your tenancy automatically becomes an assured periodic tenancy. Practically:
- The fixed-term element of any current fixed-term AST falls away. You can leave on two months' notice from the commencement date.
- The rent you currently pay continues. Any future increase must follow the new statutory process.
- Your existing deposit stays in whichever scheme it is protected in; the protection continues unchanged.
- Clauses in your current tenancy agreement that are inconsistent with the new statutory regime (fixed-term commitments, blanket pet bans, "No DSS" provisions) become unenforceable to the extent of the inconsistency, though the rest of the agreement remains in force.
If you are a landlord, the practical preparation is: understand which of the new grounds for possession you may need, register on the Private Rented Sector Database once it opens, join the ombudsman scheme, and be ready to serve the new statutory rent-increase notices rather than relying on any clause in the existing tenancy agreement.
Limits of this article
The Act commences on 1 May 2026 but much of the detailed operation — the specific rules on the database, the ombudsman process, the precise interplay between the new grounds and the transitional provisions — depends on secondary legislation that is still being finalised in the weeks before commencement. The primary Act is on legislation.gov.uk; the practical rules landlords and tenants rely on will be in the statutory instruments that follow. For the current state of guidance and the most up-to-date commencement details, the gov.uk "Guide to the Renters' Rights Act" is the authoritative source.[³]
For anyone reading a pre-May-2026 AST agreement after the commencement date, the right approach is to read the agreement alongside the new statutory rules: where they conflict, statute wins, and many of the now-familiar boilerplate AST clauses have lost their effect.