Renters’ Rights Act

Published: 03 November 2025

The government has published new guidance on the Renters’ Rights Act, outlining what the legislation means for letting agents, landlords, and tenants.

The guidance includes changes to tenancy structures, notice periods, and property standards, as well as new rights and responsibilities for all parties in the private rented sector.

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “Every family deserves the dignity of a safe and secure home.

“For too long, millions of renters have lived at the mercy of rogue landlords or insecure contracts, with their futures hanging in the balance. We’re putting an end to that.

“A secure home isn’t just bricks and mortar – it’s the foundation for opportunity, safety, and a better life. No child should grow up without one

The government has provided the following overview of the measures being introduced:

+ Abolish Section 21 evictions and move to a simpler tenancy structure where all assured tenancies are periodic.

+ Ensure possession grounds are fair to both parties, giving tenants more security, while ensuring landlords can recover their property when reasonable.

+ Provide stronger protections against backdoor eviction by ensuring tenants are able to appeal excessive above-market rents which are purely designed to force them out.

+ Introduce a new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman that will provide quick, fair, impartial and binding resolution for tenants’ complaints about their landlord.

+ Create a Private Rented Sector Database to help landlords understand their legal obligations and demonstrate compliance (giving good landlords confidence in their position), alongside providing better information to tenants to make informed decisions when entering into a tenancy agreement.

+ Give tenants strengthened rights to request a pet in the property, which the landlord must consider and cannot unreasonably refuse. To support this, landlords will be able to require pet insurance to cover any damage to their property.

+ Apply the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector to give renters safer, better value homes and remove the blight of poor-quality homes in local communities.

+ Apply Awaab’s Law to the sector, setting clear legal expectations about the timeframes within which landlords in the private rented sector must take action to make homes safe where they contain serious hazards.

+ Make it illegal for landlords and agents to discriminate against prospective tenants in receipt of benefits or with children – helping to ensure everyone is treated fairly when looking for a place to live.

+ End the practice of rental bidding by prohibiting landlords and agents from asking for or accepting offers above the advertised rent. Landlords and agents will be required to publish an asking rent for their property and it will be illegal to accept offers made above this rate.

+ Strengthen local authority enforcement by expanding civil penalties, introducing a package of investigatory powers and bringing in a new requirement for local authorities to report on enforcement activity.

+ Strengthen rent repayment orders by extending them to superior landlords, doubling the maximum penalty and ensuring repeat offenders have to repay the maximum amount.

In the coming weeks, ministers will outline how the reforms will be rolled out.

The housing secretary Steve Reed commented: “Our historic Act marks the biggest leap forward in renters’ rights in a generation. We are finally ending the injustice overseen by previous governments that has left millions living in fear of losing their homes.

“For decades, the scales have been tipped against tenants. Now, we’re levelling the playing field between renters and landlords.

“We are tearing down the walls of injustice in the private rented sector and building a future where tenants are protected, respected and empowered.

“This is an historic moment for renters across the country and we’re proud to deliver it.”

Renters can expect to see further reforms that will put an end to bidding wars and stop landlords from demanding more than one month’s rent upfront. Tenants will also be able to challenge unfair rent increases and ask to keep a pet – something landlords can’t say no to without a good reason.

The Renters’ Rights Act will also tackle discrimination head-on, banning landlords and agents from refusing tenants because they have children or receive benefits, strengthening local authority enforcement and bringing the Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law into the private rented sector for the first time.

A new Private Rented Sector Ombudsman will also offer swift, binding resolutions to tenants’ complaints. The service will offer fair, impartial and binding resolution for tenants and will have powers to compel landlords to issue an apology, provide information, take remedial action and/or pay compensation.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook commented: “This government promised it would succeed where its predecessor had failed by overhauling the regulation of England’s insecure and unjust private rented sector – our landmark Renters’ Rights Act delivers on that commitment.

“By abolishing Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions and empowering renters with greater security, rights, and protections, the Act will level decisively the playing field between landlord and tenant and transform the experience of private renting.