Reforms to renters’ rights are finally due to become law – five years and four prime ministers after they were first promised.
The legislation receiving Royal Assent today is Labour’s version, after the party took office with a promise to improve and complete the set of proposals the Tories pledged, then watered down, then abandoned altogether before the general election last year.
Previously it was known as the Renters’ Reform Bill, but Labour renamed it as the Renters’ Rights Bill.
It aims to “decisively level the playing field between landlords and tenants”, according to housing minister Matthew Pennycook.
However there is one more crucial date – the commencement date – which is when the measures will actually take effect.
We don’t know when that is, but these will be the first changes:
No-fault evictions banned
Crucially, the legislation includes a blanket ban on no-fault evictions under Section 21 (S21) of the 1988 Housing Act.
s21 notices have allowed landlords to evict tenants with two months’ notice without providing a reason.
Housing campaigners say they are a major contributing factor to rising homelessness.
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Former Conservative prime minister Theresa May made the pledge to scrap S21 notices on 15 April 2019, and it was also in her successor Boris Johnson’s manifesto.
But the Tories went on to announce an indefinite delay to the plan to ban them, pending court reforms, following pressure from backbench landlord MPs.
After the general election, Labour confirmed in its first King’s Speech that it would end no fault evictions for both new and existing tenancies.
Mr Pennycook has said that this means landlords will not be able to “arbitrarily evict any tenant with a Section 21 notice, including tenants that make complaints about things like damp and mould, rather than fix those problems”.
Landlords will still be able to evict tenants if they have a legal reason, such as if the tenant is in several months’ rent arrears or commits anti-social behaviour.
Fixed-term tenancies ended
The bill will remove fixed-term tenancies, so that all agreements are “periodic”.
This will give tenants the flexibility to move if there is a change of circumstance or they aren’t happy with the standard of accommodation. Instead of having to stay until a specified end date, tenants will be required to give two months notice if they wish to move out.
Landlord notice periods
When a landlord’s circumstance changes, such as their need to sell up or move into the property, they will have to give four months’ notice instead of two.
All renters will get a 12-month protected period at the beginning of a tenancy, during which landlords cannot evict them on these grounds.
What are the longer term changes?
There are a range of further reforms that will come in after the new tenancy system is implemented. These are:
Awaab’s law extended
Awaab’s Law was named after the toddler who died after exposure to mould in his family’s social rented home in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
It proposed that social landlords will have to investigate hazards within 14 days, fix them within a further seven, and make emergency repairs within 24 hours. .
Under Labour’s Renters’ Rights Bill, this will be extended to the private sector to ensure all landlords speedily address hazards and make homes safe.
Plans to make homes safer also include applying a Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector for the first time.
The government said 21% of privately rented homes are currently classified as “non-decent” and more than 500,000 contain the most serious hazards.
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Landlords who fail to address serious hazards will be fined up to £7,000 by local councils and may face prosecution for non-compliance, the government said.
A new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman will also be introduced to “provide quick and binding resolutions” about complaints, alongside a database to help landlords understand their legal obligations and demonstrate compliance.
Ban on mid-tenancy rent increases
The bill will also ban rent increases being written into contracts to prevent mid-tenancy hikes, leaving landlords only able to raise rent once a year at the market rate.
Rent campaigners want the government to go further and introduce rent controls amid a spiralling affordability crisis.
Analysis of government figures by housing charity Shelter found England’s private renters paid an extra £473 million pounds every month on rent in 2024 – an average of £103 more per month than they were paying in 2023.
Labour has ruled out rent controls, saying their plan to build more homes will bring prices down.
Powers to challenge rent hikes
However the government said they will make it easier for people to challenge excessive rent hikes which could force them out.
This will be done by reforming the First Tier Tribunal so it can’t actually demand more than what the landlord initially asked for when tenants complain.
The government will also end backdated increases if the watchdog rules in the landlords’ favour, and allow rent increases to be deferred by two months in cases of hardship.
Allowing pets
Labour’s reforms will also give tenants the strengthened right to request a pet, which landlords must consider and cannot unreasonably refuse.
There are currently no specific laws in place when it comes to renting with pets, but landlords can decline if they have a valid reason.
To support landlords, the Renters’ Rights Bill will give them the right to request insurance to cover potential damage from pets if needed.
Bidding wars crackdown
The reforms also crack down on bidding wars between potential tenants.
Bidding wars for rental properties have become increasingly common amid a chronic shortage of supply, with tenants typically paying an extra £100 a month above the asking price for their home last year, according to research by the New Economics Foundation.
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The legislation includes a legal requirement for landlords and letting agents to publish the required rent for a property.
Landlords and agents will be banned from “asking for, encouraging, or accepting any bids” above the publicly stated price.
Similar laws have been passed in other countries facing a housing crisis, such as New Zealand.
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Limit on rent in advance
Bidding wars have also led to some people offering months of rent in advance to ensure they get the property. Under the new laws, landlords can only ask for up to one month’s rent upfront once you’ve signed a tenancy agreement. They will be banned from encouraging or accepting any more.
Read More:
What could tackle ‘out of control’ rent prices?
Average rents hit another record high
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Ban on benefit discrimination
The bill will also outlaw landlords imposing a blanket ban on tenants receiving benefits or with children.
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According to Shelter, one in five families have been unable to rent somewhere in England because they have kids.
Meanwhile, the English Private Landlord Survey, covering the period of 2021 to 2022, found one in 10 private renters – around 109,000 households – had been refused a tenancy because they received benefits.
While specific cases of this have been found to have breached the Equality Act in court, the new law will explicitly ban these forms of discrimination “to ensure fair access to housing for all”.
