Section 21 evictions are gone, fixed terms in the private rented sector are gone, rent can only be raised once a year, and you cannot ask for more than one month's rent in advance. All of that has been in force since 1 May 2026 and it applies to tenancies you already had, not just new ones. The later phases, and the higher energy efficiency standard due by 1 October 2030, are set out below with what is already law and what is still to be made.
Guide · Updated September 2026
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 is chapter 26 and received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. It is being commenced in phases, and the distinction between a phase that has commenced and a phase the government has described in a roadmap is the most important thing on this page. Two of the four items below are law. Two are intentions.
New local council investigatory powers took effect, allowing councils to inspect properties, demand documents and access third-party data. In practical terms this means a council enforcement officer arrives better informed than they used to, and that your paperwork is now discoverable rather than merely requestable.
This is the phase that changed how tenancies work, and it applies to existing tenancies as well as new ones. It does not initially apply to the social rented sector.
Phase 2 is expected to bring a mandatory Private Rented Sector Database, requiring landlord registration together with property and safety details, and a Landlord Ombudsman. The government's roadmap points at late 2026.
That is directional, not a commenced date. It is a stated intention in an implementation roadmap, not a commencement order, and it is the sort of date that moves. Plan for the database happening; do not plan around a specific day, and treat any website that gives you one with suspicion.
Phase 3 extends a Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector and extends Awaab's Law. The government's Decent Homes Standard policy statement, published on 28 January 2026, says the new standard will apply to privately rented homes from 2035. The regulations that set out the requirements are still to be made. For Awaab's Law, the government has said it will consult on how to apply it to private rentals, including the timescale, and no date has been set.
Three of the Phase 1 changes have a direct financial effect, and they are not the ones that get the headlines.
Worked example — illustrative. A landlord letting a flat at £1,200 a month used to ask a tenant without a UK guarantor for six months up front. That produced £7,200 at the start of the tenancy. Since 1 May 2026 the most that can be requested is one month — £1,200. The difference, £6,000, is not lost income; the rent still arrives. It is working capital that used to sit in your account from day one and now arrives over the following five months.
For a landlord with one property that is an inconvenience. For a landlord who was funding refurbishment of the next property out of the advance on the last one, it is a change to how the business is financed. If several tenancies turn over in the same period, the effect compounds. It is worth mapping your own turnover months against your planned capital spend, because the money is still coming — just not when it used to.
Rent can be increased once in a twelve-month period, with at least two months' notice. That turns a rent review from something you do when you get round to it into something with a real opportunity cost.
Worked example — illustrative. Raising a £1,200 rent by 5% takes it to £1,260, worth £60 a month or £720 a year. Serve that increase in month three of the tenancy year and you cannot revisit it until month fifteen. Two months' notice means the decision has to be taken two months before you want the money. Missing a review window costs a full year of the increase, so the review needs a diary date rather than a memory.
A mandatory database requiring property and safety details means the evidence has to exist and be findable per property: certificates, dates, the compliance history. Landlords who keep one lump of figures for the whole portfolio tend to struggle here.
Property-level records are worth building now anyway, for an unrelated reason. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax requires digital records and quarterly updates, and it started on 6 April 2026 for landlords with qualifying income over £50,000. The same discipline serves both. Our property bookkeeping page explains how we set records up per property rather than per portfolio, and the MTD guide covers the reporting cycle itself.
The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard is a separate regime from the Renters' Rights Act, and it is the one with immediate financial teeth in England and Wales.
Since 1 April 2020, a landlord cannot let, or continue to let, a property covered by the MEES Regulations with an EPC rating below band E. The cost cap is £3,500 including VAT — if reaching band E would cost more than that, an exemption may be available, but exemptions must be registered on the PRS Exemptions Register, and that register is publicly searchable, including penalties issued against landlords.
The penalties are real money:
| Breach | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|
| Letting a non-compliant property for less than three months | £2,000 |
| Letting a non-compliant property for three months or more | £4,000 |
| Registering false or misleading information on the register | £1,000 |
| Maximum per property | £5,000 |
On 21 January 2026 the government confirmed that private landlords in England and Wales will have to meet a higher standard, equivalent to EPC band C, by 1 October 2030, for all tenancies. Landlords will have to spend up to £10,000 per property, and spending on recommended improvements from 1 October 2025 counts towards that cap. A property rated C or above on an EPC issued before 1 October 2029 will count as compliant until that EPC expires. The maximum fine under the new rules will be £30,000 per property per breach.
It is confirmed policy but not yet law: the government needs new powers through an Act of Parliament, then regulations it aims to bring into force in 2027. Until the new standard applies, the enforceable minimum is band E with the £3,500 cost cap.
Money spent bringing a property up to standard is not automatically deductible, and the category it falls into matters more than the amount. Replacement of domestic items relief (ITTOIA 2005 s.311A) covers the replacement — not the initial purchase — of moveable furniture, furnishings, household appliances and kitchenware. It expressly excludes fixtures, and boilers, baths, toilets and fitted furniture are fixtures. So a new washing machine replacing an old one is within the relief and a new boiler is not.
Where the replacement is an improvement rather than like for like, relief is limited to the lesser of the cost of the new item and what a like-for-like replacement would have cost. Our guide to what landlords can actually claim works through the categories in full.
For everything else with a date attached between now and 2028, including the property income tax rates arriving on 6 April 2027, see landlord tax changes 2026 to 2028, or talk to us through the tax return service that has to reflect all of it.
What has changed in landlord tax, the dates coming up, and one number worth checking on your own portfolio.
Yes. The abolition of section 21 no-fault evictions took effect on 1 May 2026 as part of Phase 1 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025 as chapter 26. The same phase replaced fixed terms with assured periodic tenancies in the private rented sector. Crucially, Phase 1 applies to existing tenancies as well as new ones, so an agreement signed before that date is caught too and needs re-reading rather than filing. Phase 1 does not initially apply to the social rented sector. Possession now has to be sought on a stated ground.
No. Since 1 May 2026 landlords and agents cannot request more than one month's rent in advance. On a £1,200 a month flat, a landlord who previously asked for six months up front received £7,200 at the start of a tenancy and can now request £1,200. The £6,000 difference is not lost income, because the rent still arrives — it is working capital that used to be available on day one and now arrives across the following five months. If several tenancies turn over in the same period, or if refurbishment was funded from advances, the cash-flow effect compounds and is worth mapping.
Not yet, but it is confirmed policy with a date. On 21 January 2026 the government confirmed that private landlords in England and Wales must meet a higher standard, equivalent to EPC band C, by 1 October 2030, for all tenancies, with a cost cap of £10,000 per property. Spending on recommended improvements from 1 October 2025 counts towards the cap. The regulations still have to be made: new powers through an Act of Parliament, then a statutory instrument the government aims to bring into force in 2027. Until the new standard applies, the enforceable minimum in England and Wales remains band E, as it has been since 1 April 2020.
There is no commenced date. A mandatory PRS Database requiring landlord registration together with property and safety details, and a Landlord Ombudsman, form Phase 2 of the Renters' Rights Act implementation, and the government's roadmap points at late 2026. That is a stated intention in a roadmap rather than a commencement order, and dates of that kind move. The sensible position is to plan for the database happening and to get property-level records and certificates in order now, without building anything around a specific day. For Phase 3, the government's policy statement says the Decent Homes Standard will apply to privately rented homes from 2035, and no date has been set for Awaab's Law.
Once in a twelve-month period, with at least two months' notice, under Phase 1 of the Renters' Rights Act which took effect on 1 May 2026. That turns a rent review from an administrative task into a decision with a real opportunity cost. Raising a £1,200 rent by 5% produces £1,260, worth £60 a month or £720 a year; serve that increase in month three and you cannot revisit it until month fifteen. Because two months' notice is required, the decision has to be taken two months before you want the money, so review dates belong in a diary rather than in memory.
Under the MEES Regulations, letting or continuing to let a non-compliant property for less than three months carries a penalty of up to £2,000, and for three months or more up to £4,000. Registering false or misleading information on the PRS Exemptions Register carries up to £1,000, and the maximum total is £5,000 per property. The cost cap for improvements is £3,500 including VAT, and any exemption relied on has to be registered. The exemptions register is publicly searchable, including penalties issued, so a breach is visible to tenants, agents and prospective purchasers rather than private.
A licensed practice of the Association of Accounting Technicians through Peter Allen MAAT, licence 1001556. ICPA members. Supervised for anti-money-laundering purposes by HMRC. Professional indemnity insurance in place.
AAT licensed
ICPA member
Xero Gold Partner
FreeAgent PartnerTell us what you own and how it is held. We reply within one working day with where your tax stands and a fixed monthly fee.
One short email: what has changed in landlord tax, the dates coming up, and one number worth checking in your own figures.