Renters Right Act has now achieved Royal Assent

As of the 27th October 2025, the Renter’s Rights Act has achieved what’s known as ‘royal assent’. If you don’t already know ‘royal assent’ represents the formal approval of a British monarch allowing the bill to become an Act of Parliament. The Renter’s Right’s Act is designed to bolster the rights of the 11 million people who currently privately rent in England. In this Article, we take you through the myriad of changes that the Act will bring into force.

First of all, the biggest change of all coming will be the abolition of ‘no fault’ evictions. Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 gives landlords the ability to evict tenants on a ‘no fault’ basis. This means a reason does not have to be given for the eviction, provided that 2 months’ notice is provided to the tenant. However, this is all set to change with the introduction of the Renter’s Right’s Act where ‘no fault’ evictions are set to be abolished.

The Act is also set to introduce a new ground ‘1A’ that will allow landlords to re-gain possession if they’re selling up. However, they will be required to provide tenants with four months’ notice, instead of the current requirement to provide two months. This should help to provide tenants with more stability in their lives by ensuring they don’t find themselves being evicted at short notice. It will also give tenants comfort as some tenants are reluctant to report disrepair for fear of being issued with a section 21 notice in retaliation. There will be checks and balances in place however to ensure that landlords don’t try and use this ground as a loophole. The landlord must be able to evidence that the property is to be sold, and they must not market the property for the purpose of renting for a restricted period of 12 months. If the rules are breached, then the landlord will be liable for a penalty of up to £7,000.

The government website makes it clear that the changes are going to be rolled out all at once:

We will introduce the new tenancy for the private rented sector system in one stage. On this date the new tenancy system will apply to all private tenancies – existing tenancies will convert to the new system, and any new tenancies signed on or after this date will also be governed by the new rules. Existing fixed terms will be converted to periodic tenancies, and landlords will no longer be able to serve new section 21 or old-style section 8 notices to evict their tenants. This single date will prevent a confusing 2-tier system, and give all tenants security immediately.

Considerable changes are also being made to other grounds – such as section 8 – which is the ground for recovering possession under rent arrears. The Renters Rights Act will mean that the tenant must accrue at least 3 months’ (or 13 weeks’ if rent is paid weekly or fortnightly) in rent arrears to be evicted. They must be in this amount of rent arrears both at the time notice is served and at the time of the possession hearing.

In addition to the above, we will also see the introduction of a new Private Rented Sector Ombudsman who will be providing fair and impartial assistance to landlords and tenants finding themselves in dispute with one another. Furthermore, there will be a private rented sector database on which landlords will need to make sure they register on – if they wish to evict a tenant and utilise any of the grounds for possession.

It’s clear to see that the Renter’s Rights Act is going to massively shake up the private rented sector and bring in sweeping reforms. Everyone from landlords, tenants, and estate agents will be grappling with the new rules. The actual implementation of the changes are set to be brought about in the Spring of 2026 – so not too far to go.

If you currently need help and advice in respect of an eviction matter in advance of the changes – please feel free to give our team a ring or pop us an email.