Renters’ Rights Act: How much has really changed?

The Renters’ Rights Act came into force at the start of May. How much of a difference is it likely to make?

Early data suggests it’s less than you might think – at least when it comes to ending tenancies.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has released a “pre-Renters’ Rights Act overview” covering the topics most likely to be affected by the new policy – and based on its results, not much will change for most tenancies in practice, particularly with regard to the removal of Section 21 evictions.

In the latest English Housing Survey:  

• Only 14% of private renters moved because they were asked to leave by their landlord.  

• Of those, less than half (45%) were given a Section 21 notice – less than 7% of all moves.  

• The rest were either asked to leave informally, or through other methods such as a Section 8 notice.

A further 3% left because of a rent increase. On that note, from this month, all rent increases will have to go through the formal Section 13 process, which tenants can challenge at the First-tier Tribunal. However, landlords can still increase rents to market levels, so if the tenant’s income hasn’t kept up, they can still be priced out.

In fact, the biggest early impact of the RRA might be on tenants’ notice. In the latest English Housing Survey: 17% of tenants left because their fixed period had expired. But now that all assured shorthold tenancies have been converted to assured periodic tenancies, tenants can no longer simply let their tenancy end without giving notice. Some may be caught out by the new rules if they planned to leave in the next couple of months.

But while only a small proportion of tenancies end in eviction, the landlords who have to go through the Section 8 process could face growing delays. In 2025, it took an average of eight months for courts to grant and enforce possession. That’s likely to get longer now that more cases will have to go through the courts.

Do tenants know about the new rules of renting?

Mostly yes. When Ipsos polled the public about the Renters’ Rights Act in early April, just 13% of private renters were unaware that Section 21 evictions would be banned. Awareness of the new rules around rent increases, bidding wars and upfront rent was a bit lower, but strong majorities of tenants still knew about the changes.

As part of the Act’s rollout, landlords and agents must give an official Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet to all tenants with a written tenancy agreement. If you haven’t done so yet, you must do so by 31 May or risk a fine of up to £7,000.

The IPSOS poll suggests that the biggest issue for tenants is affordability, not evictions. More than half of private renters (51%) were fairly or very concerned about their ability to afford rent. While tenants can more easily challenge above-market rent increases, the Renters’ Rights Act doesn’t do much to address affordability – and may make it worse if landlords continue to leave the sector as a result of the growing compliance burden. In the most recent English Private Landlord Survey, 31% of landlords said that they planned to reduce their portfolios, with more than half of them pointing to upcoming legislative change (including Renters’ Rights) as the main reason.

What’s next?

It looks like the government is giving the Renters’ Rights Act time to bed in before making more changes to the sector. The King’s Speech in May didn’t include any new private rented sector initiative. The next big thing for the industry will likely be the planned overhaul of Energy Performance Certificates, which is now not expected until next year.

However, several think tanks and pressure groups have called on the government to introduce rent controls this month. The Institute for Public Policy Research suggested that rent increases should be double locked: not allowed to be higher than inflation or wage growth. And the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has said that rent increases should be linked to CPI inflation within and between tenancies, in exchange for letting landlords fully deduct mortgage interest from their taxable income again.

Is that likely to happen? The government has previously ruled out rent controls, saying that they would push landlords out of the market. But the Labour Party is looking at a change of leadership, which could also mean a change of direction on housing policy. Andy Burnham, currently Mayor of Greater Manchester and a frontrunner for new Labour leader, called on the government to freeze private rents back in 2023. And no matter who wins, it means more uncertainty for the sector.