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A sweeping reform of the rental market in England, described as the most significant in over three decades, has been formally approved. The new legislation aims to bolster renters’ rights.
Government officials are expected to announce the specific implementation timelines and details of the changes in the coming weeks.
The alterations are poised to impact millions, given that nearly 20% of UK households currently reside in privately rented accommodations.
The revised framework transitions tenancies to a “periodic” or rolling basis, departing from the traditional fixed-term contracts of 12 or 24 months. This provision enables tenants to remain in a property should they choose to do so.
Government sources indicate that this measure is intended to enhance “security for tenants.”
Conversely, tenants seeking to vacate a property can do so with two months’ notice, eliminating the constraints of year-long or longer agreements. The government asserts that this will “end the injustice of tenants being trapped paying rent for substandard properties.”
The Renters’ Rights Bill specifically applies to England. Scotland implemented periodic tenancy agreements in 2017, while Wales and Northern Ireland continue to permit fixed-term contracts.
The legislation also seeks to eliminate “bidding wars” by establishing a clearly defined asking price for properties, discouraging prospective tenants from offering above the listed amount.
These changes come amid rising rental costs, with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) provisionally estimating a 5.5% increase in average UK monthly private rents to £1,354 in the 12 months leading up to September 2025.
Data indicates that in the year leading up to June, over 11,000 households in England faced repossession by bailiffs following no-fault eviction proceedings.
Under the new regulations, landlords will be restricted from selling or moving into a property within the first 12 months of a tenant’s occupancy. After this period, landlords must provide four months’ notice.
However, the legislation outlines specific circumstances under which landlords can still pursue evictions.
Landlords retain the right to issue notice at any time if a tenant causes property damage, engages in antisocial behavior, or falls significantly behind on rent payments, constituting rent arrears.
The threshold for arrears-related eviction will be raised from two to three months’ worth of unpaid rent.
If a landlord issues a notice for these reasons and the tenant does not vacate within four months, a court will determine whether it is justifiable to order possession of the property.
Furthermore, the amended regulations prohibit evictions based on tenant complaints regarding substandard living conditions.
A “Decent Homes Standard” will be implemented, along with the forthcoming “Awaab’s Law,” mandating timely repairs of hazards. This law is named in memory of Awaab Ishak, a two-year-old who died due to mould exposure in his Rochdale residence.
Rent increases will be limited to once per year and must align with “the market rate.”
Landlords must provide two months’ notice prior to implementing a rent increase.
Tenants who believe a rent increase is excessive can challenge it at a first-tier tribunal, a civil court.
Existing protected deposit schemes in England remain unchanged. Landlords can request a maximum upfront deposit of five weeks’ rent for annual rents below £50,000, and up to six weeks’ rent for yearly rents of £50,000 or higher.
The maximum upfront rent that landlords can demand will be capped at one month’s rent.
In purpose-built student accommodations, landlords can provide two weeks’ notice for students to vacate, applicable to specific institutional providers like university-owned housing or companies renting to students.
Private landlords renting houses of multiple occupation to students, where the tenancy was agreed upon a maximum of six months before its start, can evict tenants to facilitate new tenancies.
Over half of the residents must be students, and the landlord is required to provide four months’ notice.
Landlords must duly consider such requests and cannot “unreasonably” deny them. Tenants will have recourse to challenge “unfair decisions.”
Discrimination against prospective tenants receiving benefits or having children will be rendered illegal for landlords and agents.
However, landlords and agents retain the final authority in tenant selection and will continue to conduct reference and affordability checks.
The Renters Reform Coalition has advocated for approximately a decade for the abolition of Section 21 evictions, which permit landlords to evict tenants without providing a reason within an eight-week timeframe.
Director Tom Darling stated that eliminating Section 21 would grant tenants “real security in their house.”
Elizabeth Sugden, 35, from Manchester, who contacted BBC News, expressed her support for the changes, recounting her experience of receiving a Section 21 notice from her landlord last year, purportedly due to the landlord’s desire to “double” the rent.
She stated, “It’s literally ruined my life.”
Currently, she is temporarily housed by her local council, with her possessions in storage.
She added, “It’s just like our lives are on hold. That’s the way it feels, because we can’t move forward with anything.”
Chris Norris, chief policy officer of the National Residential Landlords Association, conveyed that landlords were feeling “nervous” and hoped for greater clarity from the government.
“They don’t really know what will happen in the minority of cases where tenancies go wrong,” he commented.
Mr. Norris anticipated that many landlords would now subject tenants to more stringent screening processes.
“We’re going to have to look very, very carefully at what the risk is of those new tenants and that’ll be to do with their ability to pay the tenancy, their background, whether they’ve got county court judgments against their name, whether they’ve had a good experience of renting in the past.”
He also suggested that these reforms would place additional strain on the court system, particularly for those seeking to challenge evictions or rent increases, and questioned the courts’ capacity to handle such an increase.
Landlord Maureen Treadwell expressed that landlords were “losing confidence” and characterized the bill as a “slow car crash.”
She anticipates that the bill will ultimately “backfire” on tenants and disproportionately affect those at the lower end of the private rental market.
“I have lovely tenants who I’ve taken a chance on and they’ve turned out to be great,” she stated.
“Would I do that now? No. If they can’t meet the affordability targets – absolutely not.”
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